Twist of Fate
by TakerReigns
Summary: Fifteen years ago, Tamara Adams walked out of Jeff Hardy's life, taking their unborn daughter. Now, after having to come to terms with losing not only his friend/girlfriend, but more importantly his child, Jeff gets a call that changes everything.
1. Prologue

**Prologue: **

_Flashback: Fifteen Years Ago:_

"_You can't do this, Tammy!" Jeff yelled at his now ex-girlfriend Tamara._

"_It's already done, Jeff. You have to accept this. My father agrees this is for the best. We're leaving Cameron tomorrow and we're not coming back," Tamara replied. "Don't make this harder on yourself than it has to be. Just let me go."_

"_You're eight months pregnant with our daughter! You can't just decide to move away and cut her off from her father and his family!"_

"_I can and it's done. If you try to fight me, Jeff, I'll get a court order. You don't exactly have the most stable life. I would win and then you would go to jail if you tried to see her. Just let me go."_

"_Tammy, what happened to us?" Jeff pleaded, defeated. "I love you."_

"_I love you, but you chose a life of adrenaline. I'm going to give my daughter more than that."_

"_She's my daughter too, Tamara."_

"_Not anymore, Jeffrey. Enjoy your life."_

_With that, Tamara Adams walked out of Jeffrey Hardy's life forever, taking his unborn child with her. Jeff went home to his brother, Matt and his father, Gil, and cried. He'd get over Tamara. She was his friend and lover for almost three years, but he would recover from her leaving him. But she took their unborn child. He'd never get to see her, hold her, tell her about his mother or his childhood. That blow was one Jeff was unsure he could recover from._

_Flashback: Ten Years Ago_

_Every day, Taylor reminded Tamara more of her father and she tried to stop it. She restricted the clothes she wore, the way she did her hair, the activities she participated in. It didn't stop Taylor. There was so much of Jeff in her it was like there was no way to change her. _

"_Taylor! Let's go! You have to be at your piano lesson in an hour!" Tamara called up to her daughter._

_When Taylor didn't answer her, Tamara went upstairs to her room. She flung open the bedroom door to find her six year old daughter perched on her toes at the top of a step stool trying to draw on her ceiling. After the door hit the wall, Taylor got startled and fell off the step stool. Tamara heard a crack and ran over to her daughter, who wasn't even crying. Her arm was at an odd angle._

"_Are you alright, Taylor?" she asked her daughter, knowing she wasn't._

"_My arm hurts, Mom."_

"_We're going to the hospital. I'm pretty sure you just broke your arm."_

_Tamara helped her daughter up and to the car. At the hospital her suspicions were confirmed. Taylor had broken her left arm. _


	2. Chapter One: The Accident

**Chapter One: The Accident**

Taylor was sitting in her coach's office, in trouble yet again. He hated when she started throwing high risk tricks into her routines that weren't part of the choreography, but she would get bored with the tricks they gave her. She loved to fly and throw caution to the wind. The routines her gymnastics coaches had her competing with were safe and boring to her. Who cared if she killed herself with what she was throwing out there? At least she was living in the moment.

After her coach chewed her out in front of her mother for half an hour and told her she would be suspended from the next three meets but still required to attend all practices and meets, he let them go. They were in the car and her mother was furious. She hated when Taylor acted "crazy" like that.

"Taylor, you can't just keep throwing whatever you want into the routines. They're choreographed for a reason," she lectured her.

"I'm bored. They don't listen when I ask them to put harder tricks into my routines," Taylor argued.

"Of course they don't. What you ask them to put in to your routines is insane."

"I can land the tricks."

"They're not safe."

It was the same argument they had frequently over the years, especially since Taylor broke her arm. Taylor was into all the things her mom hated. Her mother wanted her to be prim and proper. Taylor could never seem to satisfy her. If Taylor was interested in something, her mother said no. The only thing that didn't happen with was her art. She was allowed to paint, draw, and make sculptures, but her mother tried to dictate her subjects. Gymnastics was never Taylor's idea, but her mother insisted on it being a good way for Taylor to burn off some of her energy.

They were going over the same argument in the car when the car jumped the divider and hit them head on. Taylor felt the steel crush in towards them before the airbags deployed. She could feel her legs pinned by the dashboard. Her head hurt, she hurt everywhere. She could barely breathe. Looking to her left, Taylor saw her mother was slumped over, her head lolled to the side.

"Mom," she called out to her, trying to wake her. "Mom, please wake up!"

Her mother didn't wake up, and the darkness at the edge of Taylor's vision took over as she slumped into unconsciousness.


	3. Chapter Two: The Call

**Chapter Two: The Call**

Jeffrey Hardy was at home with his father when his cell phone started to ring. He didn't recognize the number, but something told him to pick it up. After telling his dad he had to take the call, he walked to the kitchen and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hello. Is this Jeffrey Nero Hardy?" the woman on the other side asked.

"Yes it is. May I help you?"

"Mr. Hardy, my name is Lauren Kingsley and I am an attorney for Tamara Adams."

"What does she want?"

"Mr. Hardy, I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but Ms. Adams was killed in a car accident two days ago."

Jeff went quiet. Tammy was dead? The lawyer had to be wrong. She was too fired up to be dead. Then another thought occurred to him, one he couldn't let himself think of for fifteen years.

"What about her daughter?"

"That's why I'm calling you, Mr. Hardy. Ms. Adams had no other living relatives after her father's heart attack three years ago. According to the girl's birth certificate, you are her biological father."

"I am. Will I be able to get custody of her?"

"Seeing as there are no other alternatives in place, Mr. Hardy, if you or a member of your family don't take Taylor, she will end up in foster care."

"I won't let that happen. She has a family. Where is she?"

"San Antonio General Hospital. I'm sorry to tell you this, but Taylor was in the vehicle with Ms. Adams when another vehicle jumped the divider and hit them head-on. She's been in a coma for two days. Ms. Adams was killed on impact."

His daughter was hurt, in a coma, and alone. The thought was too much to bear.

"Ms. Kingsley, thank you, I'll be on my way to San Antonio tonight. I should be at the hospital in the morning."

"I'll notify them and will meet you there to discuss things further."

"Thank you."

Jeff got off the phone and went back to the living room to find Matt sitting with their Dad. He must have come in while he was in the kitchen on the phone.

"Guys, I've gotta leave tonight and I don't know when I'll be back."

"What's wrong, Jeff? I don't think you should be going anywhere alone like this," Matt said.

"I just got off the phone with a lawyer in Texas. She called to tell me that Tammy and our daughter were in a car crash two days ago. Tammy was killed instantly. Our daughter, Taylor, has been in a coma since," Jeff said, crying. "My little girl needs me. Tammy's gone. Her dad died a few years ago. If we're not there for her, she's alone."

Matt and their father got up and hugged Jeff. They'd wanted to be part of his daughter's life almost as badly as Jeff did. Now she needed them.

"We'll go as a family," Gil said.

"You're not in this alone, Jeff," Matt said.

"Thanks, guys. We need to go. I'll book the tickets and everything. You guys go get ready."

The three Hardy men split up to go pack. When Jeff was alone again, he pulled out his phone and called an old friend.

"Hey Jeff, I wasn't expecting to hear from you."

"Hey Michael, I need a favor from you, if you don't mind. I know I haven't called in a while and now I'm calling to ask for a favor, but it's important to me," Jeff said to Michael Hickenbottom, aka Shawn Michaels.

"Are you okay?"

"Not really. I'm flying into San Antonio tonight with my dad and Matt. Do you think we could stay with you for a while?"

"What are you coming down here for?"

"My daughter is in the hospital. The daughter I was never allowed to see."

"Text me your flight info and I'll meet you three at the airport."

"Thanks, Michael."

"No problem, Jeff. If I can do anything else, let me know. In the meantime, I'll be praying for you and your little girl."

They got off the phone and Jeff dialed another number. He contacted the president of Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling, Dixie Carter.

"This is Dixie."

"Dixie, this is Jeff Hardy."

"Jeff! Are you excited about your upcoming return?"

"That's what I needed to talk to you about. I need to postpone it."

"Why would you do that?"

Jeff explained about Tamara and Taylor.

"Darling, go be with your little girl. Keep me updated and we'll talk when things settle down."

"Thanks, Dixie."

"We'll miss you, but obviously your little girl needs you more right now than we do."

"I'll be in touch."


	4. Chapter Three: Inconceivable

**Chapter Three: Inconceivable**

**A/N: POV will be first person from here on out, with narration being marked.**

**Jeff's POV:**

I got to the hospital with Dad and Matt early in the morning. We were told where Taylor's room was and the three of us went in together. I couldn't go in alone. I hadn't been allowed to see her and the idea of seeing her hurt and hooked to machines was a lot to take in.

She looked so broken and fragile and small in that big hospital bed with all the wires and tubes everywhere. I pulled a chair closer to the bed and sat down next to her, taking her hand in mine. I just looked at her and I could see slight resemblances even with the tubes and bruises. She had my blonde hair and my mother's nose.

We were in there for two hours before Ms. Kingsley showed up to talk to me. Dad came with me and Matt stayed with Taylor. We discussed all the legal terms of custody, like me transferring Taylor to a new school and things like that, which made me realize that my travelling all the time could be an issue. When I brought it up, Dad said Taylor could stay with him during the school week while I traveled.

Just before Ms. Kingsley was about to leave a final thought occurred to me that had nothing to do directly with Taylor. It was Tamara. With no family, what would happen to her body?

"Her body is unclaimed in the morgue here. I was considering what to do about that situation, but taking care of Taylor was a more pressing issue."

I didn't think before I spoke.

"I'll take care of it. Can I see her?"

"Jeff, are you sure?" Dad asked me.

"Yeah. No matter how bad things turned, she was the mother of my child. I can't leave her like this. You taught me better than that, Dad."

"You've grown into a good man, Jeffrey."

"I'll bring you to the morgue. Follow me."

I went to the morgue without Dad or Matt. I needed to do that alone. It was strange going down there. On some level, I couldn't process I was going to see Tamara's body.

_Flashback: Sixteen Years Ago_

_Tammy had been pissing me off like nobody's business. Maybe it was time to call it quits. I loved her more than she knew, but every time I tried to hug her or she found out I was out doing motocross or any of my normal stunts lately she got really pissy and we'd fight. How much of this was I supposed to take? All of a sudden it was like she wanted me to turn into some suit for her. That wasn't me and I wasn't going to change for her. She needed to accept me for who I was or we weren't supposed to be together. _

_I picked her up for our date and she looked distracted. I leaned over and tried to kiss her, but she pulled away from me. _

"_Jeff we need to talk."_

_The five words to kill a relationship. Maybe she knew things weren't working between us as much as I knew it._

"_I'm listenin', Tammy."_

"_I want you to stop doing all the crazy things you do. The wrestling, motocross, all of it."_

_I was floored. Did she really just ask me to give up everything that was important to me?_

"_Tammy, we've been over this! I'm not changing who I am because of you! Wrestling is my career, not a hobby!"_

"_You're still young, Jeff. You could learn to do something else."_

"_No."_

"_Jeff, I need you to do this."_

"_I can't change who I am."_

_She started to cry. Part of me wanted to make her feel better, but part of me was mad at her for wanting to change me._

"_Jeff, I'm pregnant," she said as she handed me an ultrasound picture._

_I stared at the ultrasound picture, not able to process what I was looking at or what she said to me. We were gonna be parents? We were both in deep shit._

**Present:**

I was looking at Tammy's body, covered by a thin sheet on the steel slab in the morgue. Just like the ultrasound picture sixteen years before, this scene made no sense to me. How could this happen?

"Tammy, why'd you leave?" I asked, crying for the girl I'd lost for the second time in my life, this time permanently.

I signed the paperwork in the morgue and worked out the details with Ms. Kingsley. Tammy would be buried with her father the following week. The lawyer would help notify her friends. I went back to Taylor's room and waited at her bedside, hoping my little girl was like me enough to pull through this.


	5. Chapter Four: Emotional Meeting

**Chapter Four: Emotional Meeting**

**Taylor's POV:**

When I woke up, there were tubes in my arm hooking me to machines. I was sore everywhere. And there was a man I didn't know at my side. Then it all came back. The car crash. Mom, not moving. Only on the road at that time because I was being wreckless again. I started crying. The man looked up, startled.

"Taylor," he said my name. "I'm so relieved you're awake."

I tried to say anything to him, but there was a tube in my throat. It scared me. I started to panic. He pushed a button and the nurse came in.

"Yes, Mr. Hardy?"

"She woke up! The breathing tube is scaring her, can it be taken out?" Mr. Hardy asked.

"I'll get a doctor," the nurse replied.

"Relax. I know you're scared. I would be too, but the doctor will let us know if you still need to have the tube to help you breathe, Taylor. Just don't get more worked up, it won't help," he said, trying to calm me down.

Looking at him, it helped a little. I calmed down a bit. He seemed familiar, but I knew I'd never seen him before in my life.

"It's good to see you finally awake, Taylor," the doctor drawled when he came into the room.

He pushed my bed away from the wall and stood behind my head. He tilted my head and told me to cough. When I did, he pulled the tube out. My throat hurt. They put a tube to help me breathe in my nose and the nurse brought me water.

"We'll slowly take you off of that, Taylor," the doctor said. "You gave your father here quite a scare."

I started coughing and spit out the water I was drinking. Father?

"Doc! She didn't know!" Mr. Hardy yelled.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know that. I'll finish my exam and leave you two to talk."

The doctor finished his exam and said that I was healing fine, but I would still need some time. After that, he and the nurse left the room.

"I'm sorry you had to find out like that, Taylor," Mr. Hardy said. "My name is Jeff Hardy. I'm your father."

"Mom?" I croaked out.

"Do you remember the accident, Taylor?"

I nodded, trying not to cry.

"She didn't make it. I'm so sorry. I'm sure she must have meant a lot to you."

I stopped trying not to cry. Jeff stood up and moved closer to me, rubbing my shoulder as I cried. I didn't say anything else that night, and Jeff didn't try to push things. When I cried, he tried to comfort me, staying by my side, letting me cry on his shoulder. Somewhere, in all of this, I fell asleep with him at my bedside.

**Jeff's POV:**

I stayed by Taylor's bed all night. Dad and Matt took turns coming to check if I needed anything since I wouldn't leave her now that she had woken up. Finally, at around two in the morning, I told them to go back to Michael's house for the night.

"Maybe ya'll can meet her tomorrow. She was overwhelmed remembering Tammy was gone when she woke up," I explained to Dad and Matt.

"Call me if you need anything, Jeff. I'll come back," Matt said.

"I'm fine. I have my daughter, finally. We can figure everything else out later," I said to Matt as I got him to leave me to my little girl and my thoughts.

_Flashback: Sixteen Years Ago_

"_You can't be pregnant, Tammy. We're not ready to be parents," I said to her in desperation. _

"_Well, that ship has sailed, Jeff. I'm ten weeks pregnant. We have to figure out what to do. Please, please, try to give up all this adrenaline you're always chasing. Not for me, for the baby we have coming. Do you really think that you can be a father when you're always risking your life?"_

"_Tammy, this is who I am. I can't just change like that. I'd be miserable."_

"_You wouldn't even do it for our unborn child?"_

"_That's not fair, Tammy! You're trying to make me choose between being in my kid's life or being me? How can you do that?"_

"_My father will never allow us to stay together like this. He'd never see us having any kind of real life together if you're an adrenaline junkie, Jeff. He'll keep us apart."_

"_We'll find a way, Tammy. If you stay by my side, we'll find a way to deal with your father. I'm not gonna leave you alone with our baby, but I can't just change who I am either."_

**Present:**

"But he found a way to keep you away from me, Taylor. And nobody is gonna keep us apart again. I'm gonna be here for you from now on. I promise you that," I said to my sleeping daughter.


	6. Chapter Five: The Bitter Truth

**Chapter Five: The Bitter Truth**

**Jeff's POV:**

Over the next few days, Dad, Matt, and I took turns staying with Taylor. Ms. Kingsley had given me the key to Tamara's house so I could start going through her things and so I could choose her clothes for the funeral. I was still in shock that I was planning her funeral.

While I was going through an old trunk of her things, I found some pictures from back in Cameron. It brought a smile to my face. There were pictures of her working at the pizza place downtown, where we used to hang out afterschool. I found some pictures of the two of us sitting on my father's porch, just holding hands and talking. The memories were bittersweet. I put them back in the trunk and marked that with the things that I would have shipped back to Cameron for Taylor.

Going through her clothes I saw that Mr. Adams finally turned her into what he wanted, the prim southern girl he always wanted. There were no t-shirts or clothes that she would have worn when she hung out around Cameron. There were pantsuits, dresses, slacks, dress shirts, all nice things. But then, we'd always known that we had been yin and yang. We were opposites, but we balanced each other so well.

"Tammy, what did he do to you all these years?" I asked out loud.

I couldn't handle going through Tammy's things anymore. I went down the hall and found myself in Taylor's room. There were gymnastics trophies and posters everywhere, but one was crooked and there seemed to be something behind it. Curiosity got the best of me and I went to look.

Pushing the crooked poster aside, I found a painting hidden behind it. It was beautiful. I took the poster down, leaving the painting in its full glory. Apparently, Taylor liked to paint abstracts like I did. I just didn't understand why she was hiding her talent.

Continuing around her room, I found a skateboard hidden in her closet, hanging from a hanger. It was a smart way to hide it. Obviously, Taylor was more like me that Tammy wanted her to be. At this point, feeling like I was invading Taylor's privacy too much, I left her room and left back for the hospital.

When I got there, Taylor seemed in slightly better spirits and she was finally getting used to talking to me, Matt, and Dad. She called all three of us by our first names, but she was nearly sixteen years old, I couldn't expect her to just start calling me Dad when she'd just met me.

"Alright, you two, I want some time with Taylor," I said to Dad and Matt. "Go get something to eat."

The two left and I was alone with Taylor for the first time that day.

"How are you feeling today?" I asked her.

"A little better. Are they gonna let me out of here anytime soon?" she asked me.

"Probably on Monday."

"In time for the funeral on Wednesday," she said looking at her hands.

"Yeah," I said awkwardly. "I know this is hard for you, Taylor. Having to bury your mother."

"Really?" she snapped at me. "What would you know about it?"

I took a deep breath. We were still getting to know each other.

"My mom died when I was nine. Matt was only thirteen. It was hard for us. Thankfully, we had our father to help us through."

"I'm sorry, Jeff. I shouldn't have snapped at you."

"You didn't know, Taylor. I'm not just saying things to make you feel better. We're both gonna screw up here. I don't know how to be a father to you and you don't know how to have a father. You're used to only having your mom. We need to accept that and roll with it and see where things go from there. We need to get to know each other."

"I guess that's true."

"Not to make you mad or anything, but I was in your room at your house…"

"You what?!"

"Your mom's lawyer gave me the keys so I could start going through things. I couldn't keep going through your mom's things, it was too much, and I just wound up in your room. I found a painting behind one of your gymnastics posters and a skateboard hanging on a hanger in the closet. Why'd you hide them?"

"Mom didn't want me 'boarding, and she didn't like certain types of art. I happen to like those things, so I did them and just didn't tell her."

I couldn't help but smile.

"What?" she asked me.

"When you and I get back to Cameron, I can't wait to take you to the Imag-I-Nation."

"The Imag-I-What?"

"The Imag-I-Nation. It's my creative place back home, where I do whatever it is that I want. I do artwork, I have a motocross track, you'd have to see it to believe it. I think you'd love it."

"You have your own motocross track?"

"Yeah, on my property. I like to do extreme things."

"So do I, but Mom always tried to stop me. The most she'd let me do was watered-down gymnastics," she said before she got a little upset.

"What's the matter, Taylor?"

"The accident was my fault, Jeff."

"Why do you think that?"

"The only reason Mom was on the road at that time was because I had gotten suspended from gymnastics again. I kept throwing really dangerous aerial tricks into my routines that my coaches kept telling me not to. When I wouldn't stop, the head coach called her in. We were arguing in the car about me wanting to do more difficult routines when the crash happened," Taylor said as she started crying again.

I got closer to her and held her as she cried, trying to comfort her.

"Taylor, the accident wasn't your fault. The other driver jumped the divider in the road. That has nothing to do with anything that you did. You just happened to be there. That's not your fault."

"But Mom's gone now," she cried into my shirt.

"I'm sorry your mother is gone, but I'm happy that you're still here. It gives me a chance to get to know you," I said to her.

She cried for a little while longer and she fell asleep, with me still sitting on her bed, leaning on me.

**Taylor's POV:**

Jeff was leaning back on my hospital bed when I woke up. I cried myself to sleep on him again. I had done that a few times this week. He never complained, he just went with it.

"Sorry," I said sitting up.

"For what?"

"Crying myself to sleep on you again."

"You just lost your mother. If you need to cry, cry," he said to me.

I looked at him. He didn't look like he could be a father, with his tattoos and his purple hair. He looked like the punk kids at the high school.

"What?" he asked me when he caught me starting at him.

"It's just, Mom didn't talk about you, and you don't look like a father. I don't really know much about you except for the little bit you told me before I cried myself to sleep again. What happened between you and Mom? Where were you all these years?"

"Wow. You go right for the big questions, don't you, Kid?"

"Sorry. It's just, if you're all I have, I kinda want to know."

"You have every right to know. I just thought I'd have more time to figure out how to tell you," he started. "Like I mentioned earlier, I'm into extreme things. I like motocross and I'm a professional wrestler. When your mom got pregnant with you I was just starting out in the WWE."

"Wait, the WWE. Like Wrestlemania, WWE?"

"That's the one."

"Mom never let me watch wrestling, but I know about the WWE."

"Well, we were young when she got pregnant and she wanted me to give everything I love up. To just change myself. I didn't think it was fair of her to make me choose between being myself or my child and tried to convince her to change her mind, but in the end, she told her father I'd never be a good father because I couldn't be a man like him," he said to me with sadness in his voice. "I am a man, just not the kind of man she thought could raise a child. She wanted a man like her father, someone who would wear a suit and work in an office. I can't do something like that. I begged her not to take you, not to leave Cameron. She threatened to get a court order to keep me from seeing you. I was miserable when she left, but I thought she was right. What judge in their right mind would give custody of a baby girl to someone who willingly gets into fights with tables, ladders, and chairs for a living? When she left, I never heard from or saw her again. I've spent all these years, wondering what happened to the two of you. Then the lawyer called to tell me about the accident. I was scared to hope that I might actually get to see you."

"Why were you scared?"

"Because I've wanted to see you all these years. I didn't know where she was or if the two of you were okay. I loved your mother and it broke me to lose her, but I got over her. I never got over her taking you."

"So you really aren't just some deadbeat dad?"

"I would've been here if she'd let me, Taylor. She didn't want the kind of life I was living for you. She wanted you to be more like her."

"I know. She tried to force it on me. I hated it. The clothes she would buy for me, the activities she would allow me to participate in, she wanted to control everything I did. Even gymnastics, I never wanted to get involved in that. I wanted to do things let get involved in the junior dragster races. She said no way in hell."

"Dragster races? Something I'd do, but you're not even old enough to drive."

"Junior dragster races, you can be as young as eight to drive the dragsters since they can only be driven on the courses. She wouldn't let me do it. She said it's not for girls."

"Exactly the point she made when she left me that night. She didn't want a life of adrenaline for our child. I guess it's in you anyway, huh, Kid?"

"I guess I'm more like you than she wanted me to be," she said with a sad smile.

"If you want, when you heal, I can teach you motocross."

"You'd let me do that?"

"If it's something you're interested in, why not? I have the track at home. You just need to use a helmet."

"I'd like that, Jeff."

"I don't like why we're finally getting a chance, but we have a chance. I'm not gonna try to force you to be someone you're not. Just let me know what you want. We'll take it from there. But there is one thing."

"I knew this had to be too good to be true. What is it?" I asked him.

"When we get back to North Carolina, you're gonna live with both me and Gil after a while."

"What? Why?"

"When I go back to work, I can't just keep you out of school for days on end. So, Dad is gonna let you stay with him during the part of the school week I'm on the road."

"You still wrestle?"

"Yeah. Just not with the WWE. I work for a different company, called TNA now. They're mostly based out of Florida. I get to be home more."

"But you're not going back to work once we go back to North Carolina are you?"

"No. I told my boss I needed time off."

"Then, I'll deal."


	7. Chapter Six: Lita Helps

**Chapter Six: Lita Helps**

**Jeff's POV:**

By Thursday night, I was relieved to see Amy Dumas, known to most as the former WWE Diva Lita, arrive in San Antonio. She had been at her beach house and out of touch, but Matt finally got in touch with her and she agreed to come meet us in Texas. Between Thursday night and Sunday morning she helped me get the last touches for the funeral done, get some of Tammy's things packed away, and helped break some of the boundaries between me and Taylor. I was thankful she was at my side.

On Monday morning, Taylor was discharged from the hospital, though she was still hurt and needed to be helped with things like getting dressed. Amy said she'd stick around long enough for Taylor to heal to help out with that since, with the exception of Taylor, the Hardy family was nothing but testosterone.

"Ready to get out of here, Taylor?" I asked her, showing her the discharge papers I had just signed.

"Yes, somebody please help me get this damn hospital gown off and into some real clothes, please," she said.

"Come on, Taylor," Amy said. "I've got some new clothes for you that I think you're gonna like. I went shopping for you on Saturday after I saw what size clothes you wear."

Amy helped Taylor into the bathroom. Ten minutes later, the two emerged with Taylor completely dressed, more like Amy usually dresses than any of the clothes I found in Taylor's room.

"Comfy?" Amy asked Taylor.

"Very. Thank you. I love the baggy jeans, and the t-shirt. Thank you, Amy," Taylor said.

"No problem. When Jeff told me you were hiding the fact you were more like him, I thought these might be more suited to you than anything we could bring you from home. Plus, these are _way_ more comfortable when you're hurt and need breathing room for your injuries, aren't they, Jeff?"

"That, they are," I laughed as I agreed with Amy.

"I don't have to keep wearing those cardigans and dress pants anymore, do I?" asked Taylor.

"If you don't like wearing those things, no. Amy said she's gonna stick around until you feel a bit better. The three of us can go shopping for new clothes after the funeral, either here or back in North Carolina," I told her. "Now, let's get you out of here. Unless you wanna stay another night?"

"Let's go!" Taylor said, excited.

The three of us left the hospital and met Matt and Michael in the lobby. After taking Taylor home briefly, we took her to Michael's ranch for the rest of the day because he'd invited her over. I'd accepted because I didn't think she'd want to be around all of her mom's things just yet, and seeing her relax, it seemed like I'd made the right decision.

_Flashback: Sixteen years ago_

"_Tammy, don't do this," I begged her. "Just because I'm not the type of guy who can work a 9-5 job doesn't mean I can't be a good father to our baby."_

"_Jeff, how can you be any kind of father to our baby when you're constantly risking your life for a _chance_ that the WWE will offer you and Matt contracts? You travel a lot and you live on adrenaline. I don't want our baby to grow up like that," Tammy said to me. "I'm telling my father that you've chosen those things over a safer future where we could be together. I don't know what's going to happen when I do, but I do know that whatever the future holds for this child, he'll make sure that you're not included in it unless you give up these ridiculous risks, Jeff."_

"_You're asking me to completely change who I am, Tammy. I would never ask you to do that for me. I've never asked you to do that for me. I've always loved you for who you are, as you are. I thought you loved me for who I am, but I guess I was wrong," I said to her._

"_I do love you, Jeff. But this baby will need stability. These jobs you take with the WWE, the ones where you come back to Cameron bruised and injured all the time, that's not stability. How can we take care of a baby like that?"_

"_We'd find a way. I would find a way to make sure the baby was taken care of," I said to her._

"_I'm sorry, Jeff."_

**Present:**

Dad and Taylor were talking about Cameron and what it would be like when she moved there with us. She seemed nervous, but if she was anything like me, she'd be fine. While I was still watching everything going on, Michael came and sat near me.

"She seems like good kid," he said to me.

"I think so. I think she's just aching to break free of the mold Tamara's been forcing her into all her life," I said to him. "Thanks for everything you're doing for me. I really appreciate it. I never thought I'd ever get to meet my daughter, and here you are, helping me when I suddenly get to. I hope I can repay you one day."

"Don't worry about it, Jeff," Michael said. "I'm just glad you're finally getting a chance to meet her. She seems a lot like you."

"She is, and she's had to hide it. Her mother hated that I was into all the extreme things that I've always been into. Taylor's into them and Tamara's been trying to force it out of her. The kid has paintings like the ones I've done hidden in her room, a skateboard hidden in her closet and who knows what else. She's ready to be freed and I'm hoping that we can bond over that."

"It's good the two of you already have something to bond over. It will make the transition easier for both of you."

"I hope so. Because I'm scared out of my mind."

"All new parents are, Jeff. Just, don't forget it's okay to be her friend, but at the end of the day, you need to give her some kind of rules to keep her safe. She'll need some kind of boundaries. What kind of boundaries you want to give her are up to you, but she'll need to know that you are just as much her father as you are her friend."

"Thanks for the advice."

"Anytime."

Michael got up to barbecue and Amy sat down with me. Matt had joined Dad and Taylor. I just decided to let them get to know her because I had gotten a chance to have some serious conversations with her in the hospital.

"She's a strong girl, Jeff."

"I know she is. I just hope I can be as strong a man for her, Amy. You and I both know I'm gonna have to tell her the truth about my past."

"The drugs?"

"Yeah," I said looking at Amy because I couldn't look at Taylor thinking about how badly I'd screwed up in the past.

"Own it, Jeff. Be honest with her. You've cleaned up your act. You've been clean for a while now. Did you screw up? Yes. We both know that. Everyone knows that. But you ultimately got help and got clean. _That's_ the part that will matter more. Seeing how much that kid is already falling in with your family, she'll be able to forgive your past as long as it stays in your past."

"I have no plans on being that kind of screw up again anytime soon. Especially not with Taylor needing me, Aimes."

"Good. Then you're already on the right track," Amy reassured me, giving me a hug.


	8. Chapter Seven: The Hardest Goodbye

**Chapter Seven: The Hardest Goodbye**

**Jeff's POV:**

_Flashback: Sixteen years ago:_

_I rang the doorbell of Tamara's house. I had to try one more time to convince her not to take our daughter from me. Standing in the doorway, the light came on and her father answered the door._

"_Mr. Adams, Sir, may I please speak to Tamara?" I asked him._

"_I don't think that's a good idea, Jeffrey."_

"_Please, please let me talk to her. The thought of her taking her child and never letting me see her is too much to handle," I begged him._

"_You should have thought about that before you chose your addictions over my daughter and your family, Jeffrey. Goodbye."_

_He slammed the door in my face and I knew it was over. Tammy was leaving. My last chance at trying to change her mind stopped before I could even see her. I went home and became more determined than ever to lose myself in my wrestling, not able to bear the thought of focusing on that child I'd never be able to see for long, knowing I'd lose my mind if I did think of her for long._

**Present:**

I had stayed in Taylor and Tammy's house the night before the funeral with Taylor and Amy, figuring the familiar would be easier for her before the hardest day of her life. Amy was busy helping Taylor get ready for the funeral. I was dressing myself in the new suit Dad had gone and bought for me while I had been going back and forth between the hospital and the house taking care of things. It wasn't like I had thought to bring anything for this kind of thing from back home.

"Do you need help with that tie?" Amy said in the doorway of the bathroom.

"I'm about to burn it. I hate ties."

"So don't wear it. It's not that serious, Jeff."

"My hair is being a pain in the ass," I said looking at her from the mirror.

She walked in and took my brush. Within minutes she brushed out my hair and had it in a low ponytail. She handed my brush back to me.

"What's this really about, Jeff?"

"She left me, Amy. She left me because she wanted me to choose between her and my child and everything that makes me happy. I don't hear anything from her in years. Now, I'm holding her funeral? I had to let her go a long time ago and now all those feelings are coming back. I keep remembering what happened, when it all fell apart before she left. And, damn it, I'm mad as hell at her!"

"You have every right to be mad at her, but today you need to put that aside for Taylor who is still blaming herself for the accident."

My anger faded a bit and I realized that's what was gonna happen more and more now. I was her father. She had to come first. She needed me, now more than ever.

"Thanks for reminding me, Amy," I said as I hugged her and wiped the tears that I had started forming in my eyes away.

**Taylor's POV:**

Amy had left me in my room. It was still hard to move around. The doctor's said it would still be a few more weeks before I was moving normally, and even longer before I had my normal strength back. I got up and went into my closet, pulling out a box of things that Mom had given me over the years and I had refused to wear. Digging through it, I found an old necklace and limped back to my bed. I was staring at the necklace, lost in thought when Jeff came in to check on me.

"Whatcha got there, Taylor?"

"A necklace Mom gave me when I was thirteen. I've always refused to wear it, but I think now is the right time," I said handing it to him.

Jeff looked at the necklace and his expression changed a bit. I wasn't sure if he wanted to smile or cry. Instead he put the necklace around my neck and fastened it.

"Are you okay, Jeff?"

"Yeah," he said, coming around to face me. "I just recognize that necklace."

"Really? I didn't know Mom had it that long."

"I didn't think she'd still have it."

"Why?"

"I gave it to her when we were still dating. I always thought she was so beautiful and that nothing could stop her. It's why I got her the lotus flower necklace," Jeff said.

I couldn't believe it. I'd had something my father had given my mother for nearly three years and I hadn't known it.

"She never told me where she got it. She just said it had been her necklace for years and she wanted me to have it. I hid it in the closet with a bunch of other things she gave me I didn't want."

"I think it fits you as much as it fit with her. I'm glad she gave it to you," Jeff said.

Just then Amy came and knocked on the door.

"Matt and Gil are here, Jeff. The limo's ready for us," she said.

I looked at Jeff. I didn't know how to do this.

"We'll be down in a minute, Amy," he said to her.

"How do I say goodbye to her, Jeff?"

"Whatever way you feel you need to, Taylor. Don't feel like you need to act a certain way because it's what people expect. If you want to break down and cry, cry. If you don't want to cry, don't. If you want to say something at the funeral, say it, but don't feel like you have to."

"Shouldn't I say something since I'm the only one she has left?"

"You're fifteen, Taylor. This is a lot to handle. Just do what you feel is right for you, forget what anyone else thinks. The only person whose opinion matters here is yours."

"Is this hard for you?"

"I lost Tammy a long time ago. I had to face that then. I never thought I'd see her again. But, yeah, this is really hard for me too, Taylor," Jeff said sitting down next to me, wiping tears from his eyes. "I loved your mother so much and a small part of me always hoped that someday she'd forgive me and come back. I never thought this would be the way we would all be reunited."

I hugged him. He hugged me back.

"I don't want to do this, Jeff."

"That's something I can't let you do, Taylor. If you don't go to your mother's funeral, you'll never forgive yourself."

"I can't say goodbye."

"You don't have to do it alone. I'll be at your side the whole time. I'm not gonna let you go," Jeff said to me as he stood up and took my hand.

We made our way downstairs and into the limo. When we got to the funeral parlor I was like a statue, just looking at the coffin, not focusing on anything. Jeff, Matt, Gil, and Amy sat around me. Jeff held my hand the whole time, like he promised. After people started leaving the funeral parlor, Jeff and I got to say goodbye to Mom privately before going to the church.

The church was a lot like the funeral parlor for me, only I stared straight ahead at the altar. I couldn't look at the closed coffin. Not knowing that in that airtight box my mother was no longer breathing. Amy and the Hardy men kept close to me the entire time. Mom's friends talked about how much they loved her. Quietly I cried. When Jeff noticed, he pulled me closer to him. I looked up at him, and saw he was looking at the coffin and crying.

In the cemetery I had to keep from yelling at the priest. As he spoke about everlasting life I almost yelled at him that he was a liar, because for someone who preached everlasting life, the hole in the ground we were all standing around held the only family I'd ever known until now. As soon as he finished talking, I placed a flower on Mom's coffin, turned and walked away from the grave, going back to the limo.

**Jeff's POV:**

It was hard to go through the funeral for me, but watching as Taylor tried to be strong, my heart ached for my daughter that I had just met. I watched as she handled the final goodbyes in the funeral home and even the church with strength and grace. It was the cemetery that finally made her crack.

She was sitting down in the front. I was next to her, with Amy standing behind me. Taylor had been keeping her hands in her lap, so I thought she was just trying to put on a brave front for everyone. Suddenly, Amy squeezed my shoulder. I looked up at Amy who nodded in Taylor's direction. Taylor's hands were balled in fists. I reached over and grabbed her hands trying to soothe her anger, knowing it wouldn't stop her anger, but it might stop her from saying or doing something she might regret later.

As soon as the ceremony at the ceremony ended she went right to the limo. I looked at her and wanted to go to her. Before I could, Amy stopped me.

"Let me talk to her first, Jeff. She's really upset right now," Amy said, walking towards the limo.

I looked at Dad and Matt.

"I don't know what to do for her," I said, trying not to break.

"Yes, you do, Jeff," Dad said to me.

"You remember what we needed when Mom died," Matt said.

I nodded, watching, waiting for Amy to call us over to the limo.


	9. Chapter Eight: Coming Clean

**Chapter Eight: Coming Clean**

**Jeff's POV:**

_Flashback: Twelve years ago:_

_I was called to the WWE Headquarters in Connecticut. It couldn't be good, but part of me didn't give a damn. Vince wanted to meet with me. It probably had to do with me showing up late if I showed up at all for my scheduled appearances. After waiting nearly an hour, I was led into his office._

"_Sit down, Jeff," Vince said to me, pointing at the seat in front of his desk. _

_I sat down and waited for him to talk. _

"_You haven't been keeping up with appearances. What's worse, when you have been showing up, you've been late, drunk, and some had suspected you were getting high. That's why I needed to talk to you."_

"_What about?" I asked, not sure if I really cared._

"_Your drug test. You failed it," Vince said severely. "Now you are a big draw to the fans, so I'm willing to give you a chance here, Jeff, but you have to work with me. If you check yourself into rehab and get help with your problems, we'll give you time off and bring you back when you successfully complete the program."_

"_Release me," I said._

"_What?" Vince asked in shock._

"_I don't care, just fire me, Vince." _

"_You do realize what you're saying, Jeff, don't you?"_

"_Yeah. I'm saying I don't care about going to rehab. Just fire me and get it over with. I'm tired of all this shit anyway," I said as I got up and walked out of his office and on my job._

**Present:**

It had been two days since Tammy's funeral. Dad had gone back to Cameron to start getting things ready at my house for Taylor. Matt had to go back to work, so he was back on the road, but he promised he'd go home to Cameron when Taylor and I finally went back. So it was just me and Amy with Taylor now.

I had just finished making burgers for the three of us for lunch when I decided to tell Taylor the truth about me. So far she hadn't heard any rumors about me from anyone. I wanted her to find out the truth about my past from me. When Amy helped her sit at the table I toyed with trying to figure out how to start the conversation.

"What's wrong, Jeff?" Taylor asked me.

"Taylor, there are still things you don't know about me. Things that are pretty well known about me, that I'm not proud of, and I want you to hear about them from me," I replied.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Amy took my hand and I took a deep breath, thankful she was here to help me through this.

"I've gone through some very dark times in my life. Times where I didn't care about anything, not my career, not what I was doing to myself, not how my actions were affecting anyone I cared about, nothing. It led me to some very dark places," I started explaining, looking at Amy for encouragement. "During those dark times, I got into some very bad habits and got into a lot of trouble."

"What kind?" Taylor asked.

"Drinking, drugs. I've been arrested a few times. I was fired from a few of my wrestling jobs because of my drug habits. But that's all in the past now. I've been clean for a few years. I haven't gotten high in years. Since I've been clean, I haven't gotten in trouble with the law at all," I explained.

"And the drinking?" she asked.

"I still drink from time to time, but it's not often. But that and cigarettes are the worst of my vices at this point."

Taylor took a few bites of her burger and pushed it away. I noticed she did that a lot. She barely ever ate.

"Why are you telling me this now?" Taylor asked, obviously done with her lunch.

"You told me that your mother kept you from watching wrestling all these years and you had no idea I was your father. Now that you do, as people find out, I don't want you to be put in a situation where you find out something like that from some stranger, or worse, online. There's a lot of information on the internet about me and my brother. We've both had our problems in the past."

"You promise that you've been clean?" Taylor asked.

"I can vouch for that," Amy said, putting down her veggie burger. "He asked me to help him when he was finally ready to get clean. And he's back to the Jeff I remember before he got hooked on the drugs. He lost part of himself when he fell into all of that. He's not the same as he was before, but he's close to it."

"You have to promise me you're not gonna start any of that again, Jeff. This is a lot to take in and I don't know how to do with this now, and I can't even think about what would happen if you started again," Taylor said to me. "I don't think I'd be able to forgive you if you did."

"I promise, for you, I'll stay clean, Taylor."

"I'm kinda tired. Can I be excused?" Taylor asked.

"Sure, I'll help you upstairs to your room," Amy said.

**Taylor's POV:**

Amy helped me up to my room. I was in shock at what Jeff had just told me. Should I be upset and not trust him because he used to use drugs? Or should I trust him because he was honest with me and wanted me to hear the truth from him instead of finding out on my own? My emotions were mixed up and I didn't know what to do with them so I just used the excuse of a nap to get away from the situation.

"Do you need anything?" Amy asked me as she helped me into my bed.

"No," I said and she started to walk away from me before I stopped her. "Amy?"

"Yeah, Taylor?" she replied from by the door.

"Is Jeff really off the drugs? I mean, is he really okay now? Will he go back to all of that because of me and Mom?" I asked, voicing one of my fears.

Amy came back to my bed and started stroking my hair.

"He's clean, Taylor. He's not going back there. And he won't go back because of you or your mother. If anything, he's got more of a reason to fight the urge to fall back on the habit because of you."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you see the way he is with you already, Taylor? You've already got him wrapped around your little finger. He's never going to intentionally do anything that he knows will hurt you. You already told him that would. That gave him more reason to fight to stay clean. He'll be okay," Amy tried to reassure me.

"But how will he deal with all of this? I don't even know how to," I said to her.

"He has his art, his music, friends, family and other hobbies. He'll find away. And he'll help you. We'll all help you get through this," Amy reassured me. "Get some rest. I'll have Jeff check on you a little later."

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"Just to run an errand. I'll only be gone for an hour or two. Don't worry."

"Amy. Thank you," I said to her as she left my room.


	10. Chapter Nine: The Move

**Chapter Nine: The Move**

**Taylor's POV:**

It was hard dealing with what Jeff told me about his past, but Jeff, Amy, and I spent the next two weeks in San Antonio getting ready to leave. It was distracting and by the time we were done, I found that I was okay with it because he was honest. We went through everything in the house. Jeff packed a lot of stuff up to be stored in North Carolina that belonged to Mom in case I wanted them when I got older along with all my trophies, and all of the pictures were being sent to his house. Everything else, the house, the furniture that I didn't want, it was all being sold. I threw out all of my gymnastics posters. I told Jeff that I didn't want that to be part of my life anymore and he was okay with that.

The movers had come and taken everything. The house that had been my home for as long as I could remember felt foreign to me. I sat on the floor in the living room, just looking at the emptiness, waiting for Jeff and Amy. We'd be leaving for the airport soon.

"Cameron is pretty quiet," Jeff said, coming to sit with me. "Not as much to do as there is here in San Antonio. But I think you'll like it."

"I hope so," I said.

"Matt, my Dad, and I all live close together. Same stretch of road, each of the houses are about half a mile away, with Dad's in the middle. One of us is usually home," Jeff said to me.

"Between the three of you, you own a mile and a half of land?" I asked in shock.

You didn't find that in the city of San Antonio. Further out, where the ranches where, like Michael's, but not in the actual city. I couldn't believe one family could own so much land.

"We actually own more than that, that's just the distance between the three houses," Jeff said to me smiling.

"I have to admit, I'm kind of excited to see that."

"And my dad, Matt, and I talked. You're gonna have your own room in all three houses. You can decorate them any way you want. This way, you no matter which of us you're with, you're always at home. So, I hope you don't mind, but at this point your rooms just have beds, dressers, and desks. I figured wait until you got to see the rooms and let you tell us what to do with them from there," he said.

"That's a lot of personal space," I said laughing. "You wouldn't care if I chose to stay with Matt or Gil instead of you even if you were home?"

"We all need to get used to each other. If you need space from me, I'd rather you be with my brother or father where you're safe than not know if you're okay, so yeah, I'd be okay with it."

"Will I have a computer in each of these rooms?" I asked.

"No. You'll have a laptop. You can take it with you to whichever house you're at and connect it to the wireless printers. Matt and I put a wireless printer in Dad's house for when we're there. We've updated all his technology. Otherwise he'd still be using dial-up internet connections," Jeff said and we both started laughing.

"How long is Amy staying with us?"

"She wants to make sure you're okay before she goes, so I'm not sure."

"I like having her around."

"So do I. I miss seeing her this much."

"What do you mean?"

Amy came into the room and sat with us.

"He means that your uncle Matt, your father and I used to work in the WWE together. We were part of a stable called Team Xtreme. So we traveled a lot and spent almost all of our time together. I even dated Matt for a while."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Well, Matt and I didn't work out and it took years for us to get over that, but in the ring the three of us had a lot of fun."

"You used to wrestle?"

"Hell yeah. I decided I wanted to do that and just up and went to Mexico to learn from the luchadores. It took a while, but I worked my way to the WWE and when the three of us were paired up it was some of the best times I'd had."

"Luchadores?"

"Mexican wrestlers. They're awesome," Amy explained.

"I wish I could have seen that," I said.

"We can show you some of it when we get back to Cameron," Jeff said. "The WWE released tons of DVDs and everything with our old stuff. But first, it's time to head to the airport, Taylor."

**Jeff's POV:**

When we got to North Carolina, Taylor seemed nervous to be there. I hoped that as she got used to the quiet of Cameron. It took a while to reach my house from the airport. After parking, I helped Taylor from the backseat of Matt's car and into the house and carried her around so she could see her new home.

"It's surrounded by woods here," Taylor said.

"Well, that's one thing all of us in this family have valued over the years, the ability to just be in the middle of nowhere to be who we want to be," Matt said. "Your dad and I had our own backyard wrestling over at Dad's house. It turned into a promotion that we still co-run."

"Really?" Taylor asked.

"Yeah," I confirmed. "There are a lot of good memories for the Hardy brothers out here. Hopefully, you'll be able to build some good memories of your own now."

My phone started ringing. Amy picked it up.

"Jeff," she called to me. "It's Gil."

"I'll be right back, Taylor," I said as I went and picked up the phone in the kitchen. "What's up, Dad?"

"How was the flight back with her?"

"She seems a little nervous but excited."

"Why don't all of you come over to my house for dinner? I know you haven't had time to go grocery shopping and you are not gonna start feeding my granddaughter a constant diet but take-out, Jeffrey," Dad said warningly.

I laughed, realizing just how well my father knew me.

"Fine, but I gotta warn you now, don't be offended if she barely eats anything, Dad."

"Why wouldn't she eat?"

"I'm not sure if it's something to worry about or just everything she's been through, but I've noticed since she's been out of the hospital she takes a few bites anytime me or Amy feed her and that's it. I think my pet hamsters used to eat more than she does right now."

"That's not good, Jeff."

"I know, Dad. But I'm watching her. If it goes on too long, I'll talk to her. At this point, she's eating something, so I'm just gonna keep an eye on her."

"Be sure that you do. Make sure your brother has all of you here at seven."

"I'll tell Matt, Dad. See you later."

I hung up the phone and went back to the living room, where I had found that Matt and Amy had pulled out some old pictures of me and cringed.

"Really? I leave the two of you for three minutes to talk to Dad and you pull those out? How did you find them?"

Taylor was laughing. I walked closer and looked at what she was looking at. A picture of me in my high school wrestling uniform.

"That was really you? You looked so scrawny," she said giggling and pointing at the picture.

"Very funny," I said, looking from Taylor to Matt and Amy who were laughing with her. "Wait until I start showing her the pictures of you _making_ our old wrestling gear, Matt."

"You don't have those anymore," Matt said, suddenly horrified.

"Dad made me copies after I lost everything in the fire," I told him and he stopped laughing.

"Wait, you're older brother used to actually make your wrestling gear? What kind of wrestling gear?" Taylor asked.

I went into another room and came back with some pictures of mine and Matt's early days of OMEGA, when we were still doing state fairs and things like that. I showed her our costumes.

"Those are so corny," she said giggling. "You really made them, Matt?"

"Yeah," he said, hanging his head in shame.

"Spent hours sewing and everything," I told her.

Her and Amy were just laughing at the way Matt and I were going out of our way to embarrass each other to Taylor, but I was happy to see her laugh so much. It was the most I'd seen her smile since she'd woken up. We started to lose track of the time when I remembered Dad's phone call. I checked the time. It was already 6:45.

"We gotta go," I said suddenly. "All of us."

"Where are we going?" Taylor asked.

"I got distracted with the pictures, but Dad called. He wants all of us at his place at seven for dinner. Matt he said to make sure you get us there on time."

"Really, Jeff, you wait until now to tell me?" Matt complained.

"Hey, you're the one who pulled out the embarrassing pictures while I talked to him. It's your fault I got distracted!"

"Come on, Taylor," Amy said, helping her up. "I'll help you get washed up before we go. Let these two fools work out whose fault this is on their own."

When they came back, Amy had brushed Taylor's hair and changed her shirt to a heavier one. I had gone into my room and thrown off my tank top and thrown on a plaid button-down over a clean tank top. I left it open as I carried Taylor out of the house and put her back in Matt's car for the ride to Dad's house, buttoning it on the way over.

Dinner at Dad's house was more about embarrassing me and Matt. Dad showed Taylor lots of pictures of the two of us when we were little, making her smile and laugh, but he took it one step further than Matt and I had at my house. Just when I thought it couldn't get any more embarrassing, it did. Dad put on some old home movies of me and Matt for Taylor.

"Really, that's the two of you? You don't look anything like you do now!" she squealed.

"Yeah, yeah, eat it up, Kid." I said to her, hiding my head, seeing how cheesy I was as a kid.

By the end of the night, once Matt and I were sufficiently mortified, Dad let us all go. After dropping us back at my place, Matt said goodnight and went home. Amy went into the house, ready to finally have a few minutes to take a shower and relax. Taylor and I sat on the porch.

"So, what do you think of being here so far?" I asked her.

"You guys are all nuts," she said laughing. "But it's nice. Mom, grandpa, my coaches, pretty much everyone I've ever known has always been so uptight and anal. They'd never just act the way you, Matt, and Amy did with Gil tonight."

"So you've always had a lot of structure?" I asked.

"Yeah. Rules about everything. How to act, dress, speak, you name it, there was some kind of rule telling me why I was doing it wrong."

"I can't even imagine living like that. As I'm sure you've guess, I'm not big on conformity."

"Yeah. Got that, Jeff," she said sarcastically before changing the subject. "This place is huge."

"Are you up for taking a walk?"

"Can I?"

"Sure. I'll show you some of the Imag-I-Nation. Some of my artwork was done with glow in the dark paint, so you'll see it better now anyway."

I helped her up and started towards my getaway at home. We walked slowly so I didn't overwhelm her healing body. We stood on the crest of a hill and could see the barn that I had painted over. I showed her my art from the distance.

"You did that?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Nobody tries to tell you that it's weird?"

"I don't care if they think it's weird, Taylor," I said looking at her. "My art, whether it's music, poetry, paintings, it doesn't matter how I do my art, is my way of expressing what's in my mind. My life is in the public eye and lots of people know what I do, and I even let the WWE film part of one of their documentaries on me and Matt showing them part of the Imag-I-Nation, but this is me. I am an enigma and that's fine by me. It's even been part of my nickname in my wrestling career for years."

"You really don't care? You just do whatever type of art comes to you?"

"Yeah, that's why I have the Imag-I-Nation. It's my imagination come to life," I explained.

"So, if I wanted to start painting weird things like what you saw in my room in Texas you wouldn't get mad at me?"

"No. Creative freedom is something I am very big on. If you want to dye your hair green, I'll help you," I said laughing.

"This is gonna take some getting used to," Taylor said to me.

"I know. But for now, I think you've had enough excitement for one day. Welcome home, Taylor," I said, as I led her back to the house. "Tomorrow we'll go into town and buy supplies to decorate your room."

Leaving her with Amy, I went to change out of the clothes I was in and shower. When I got out, Amy told me Taylor wanted to see me before I went to bed I went into her room.

"You wanted to see me?" I asked from the doorway.

"I wanted to thank you."

"For what?" I asked, walking in and sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Not being a jerk to me after what Mom put you through. You put your life on hold for me."

"You don't have to thank me, Taylor. What happened between your mother and me has nothing to do with me caring about you. And even if I had been allowed to be in your life all these years, I would have dropped everything for you. It's what family does."

"But you're being so nice and you don't know me. I haven't always been nice to you since I woke up and you've still always been nice. So have Matt, Gil, and Amy."

"Don't worry about it, Taylor. Get some rest. I'm happy to have you here. We all are."

I hugged her and left her for the night.


	11. Chapter Ten: Revelations

**Chapter Ten: Revelations**

**Taylor's POV:**

Over the next few days, Jeff, Amy, and I did a lot of things around Cameron and the three houses. They showed me around the town, took me shopping for more clothes and for things for my new rooms, to get me ready to go back to school, and even start me on physical therapy. I had more fun just hanging out with them. Not that physical therapy was an issue for me, I had been doing gymnastics most of my life and working through pain was through that, it was just annoying. My motivation for that was that Jeff had promised to teach me motocross. To prove he was serious, he had even brought me out looking to get me my own bike.

Back at his house, Jeff, Amy, and me got my room decorated. It wasn't like anything I'd ever seen before by the time I was done. I don't know how it started, but one minute Jeff and I were talking about how to paint the room, the next minute we'd bought a bunch of different paints and painted the walls like murals. When it was done I was exhausted and we were all covered in paint, but I loved it. After the walls were done, we stripped down my dresser and repainted it to match the walls, which I thought was even cooler. Matt came over when the room was completed to help Jeff put my furniture back in place.

"Wow, guys. Was this really Taylor's idea or was this your idea, Jeff?" Matt asked as they started moving the furniture back into the room.

"No, it was my idea, Matt. The murals were my designs. Amy and Jeff helped me paint them, but this was all me," I said excited and still in disbelief Jeff let me decorate my room the way he did.

"See, she's creative. I didn't have anything to do with this except her DNA," Jeff said laughing.

I started laughing and stumbled a little.

"Hey, Kid, you okay?" Matt asked. "Jeff, how long have you guys been going at this?"

"I'm fine, Matt. Just tired," I said, uncomfortable that Matt was questioning Jeff.

"Come on, Taylor, you can rest in your father's room while these guys move your furniture," Amy said shooting a glare at Matt, who just glared back at her.

We walked away and Amy took me to the kitchen first. She sat me at the table and got me some fruit salad and water from the fridge. She sat down with some of her own.

"Eat, Taylor," she said looking at me.

"I'm not that hungry," I said, looking at the food.

"Taylor, I know I'm not the only one who sees this, but I didn't want to say anything in front of anyone. Why won't you eat?" Amy asked.

I looked up at her in shock.

"I eat," I said defensively, eating some of the fruit salad.

"Not enough. You're fifteen years old and you don't eat enough for someone your height. I know that it worries the guys, but they're scared to say anything to you. They don't want to offend you," Amy said.

I didn't know what to say. How could I explain years of conditioning from my grandfather, my coaches, and at times even my _mother_ that I needed to stay thin? Eating had always been a topic of discussion and it was usually about why someone like me needed to eat less. Gymnasts needed to stay as light as they could to get height on their aerial tricks. Ladies should have certain figures. Ladies should never eat more than a certain amount, especially in public. I didn't how to explain, so I didn't answer her.

"I'm not trying to upset you, Taylor," she said, reaching out for my hand, which I let her do. "But you've already become so important to these guys and to me. I don't want to see anything bad happen to you because you're not eating."

I looked up at her. There was truth in her words. She did care about me.

"I'm sorry," I said to her.

"Don't apologize. Just help me understand so I can help you with this," she said to me. "Was it because of the gymnastics? I've heard about gymnasts having eating disorders."

I didn't want to lie to Amy. She'd been so good to me and she had been the only girl around me since we'd left Texas. I didn't want to make her hate me.

"Kinda. The coaches always said that I needed to lose weight otherwise I wouldn't get my tricks done right," I explained. "But they weren't the only ones. Lots of people told me that I needed to watch what I eat, keep a certain weight and never eat too much."

"Okay, first, you decided you don't wanna do gymnastics anymore, right?" she asked me.

"I never really wanted to do it to begin with, so yeah," I told her.

"Then forget your coaches. I know it's not gonna be something that happens overnight. But you need to think about you. As for everyone else who thinks you need to look or act a certain way, screw them. Be who you are, do what you love, as long as you're not hurting anyone in the process," Amy said. "You've been through a lot that nobody your age should have to go through, Taylor, but take it as a new start. No more hiding who you are, no more being forced to do things you don't want to do, but most importantly, it's time to start taking care of yourself. You get to reinvent yourself, be the person you've always been, but in order to do that, you need to be healthy, you get me?"

"I guess," I said.

"I'll help you out. Little by little, you eat more every day. For today, we'll start with you just finishing the fruit salad before you lay down. I don't expect you to eat huge meals every day, but you need to promise to eat at least something more than once a day," Amy said.

"I'll try, Amy. I promise," I said.

"Good," she said smiling at me, which lit up the room. "Now eat. I have a feeling you're just gonna end up sleeping in Jeff's room tonight."

"Are you gonna tell Jeff about all of this?" I asked as I started eating.

"I won't lie to you. Yeah, I am. He needs to know. It's the only way he can help you," Amy replied. "He won't be mad at you. Don't worry. I think he'll be more relieved that you were open with me and that you're gonna try eating more now."

**Jeff's POV:**

I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but I was going to the kitchen for water when I overheard Amy and Taylor talking. Amy got Taylor to admit that she'd been pushed to get into the eating habits that she'd shown since I'd met her. It pissed me off. Quietly, I made my way back to her room and Matt.

_Flashback: Nineteen years ago:_

"_Come on, Tammy. That really can't be all you're gonna eat," I said to my girlfriend of three weeks._

"_I'm not that hungry, Jeff," she said, pushing her barely touched plate away and not looking me in the eye. _

_It was always like that with us. We'd go out to eat, she'd order a salad and eat maybe a third of it. She was so thin already, but she always insisted she wasn't hungry._

"_Are you okay, Tammy?"_

"_Yeah, why?"_

"_I worry about you. We've been together for almost a month and I don't think you've ever finished a meal."_

"_I just don't eat a lot, Jeff. Don't worry about me."_

"_Are you sure?"_

"_Yeah," she said, giving me a smile that I could tell was practiced and fake._

"_Just know I don't care if you think you should eat in front of me. I'd rather you eat," I said honestly. _

**Present:**

"Earth to Jeff," Matt said waving his hand in front of my face.

"Sorry, did you say something?"

"Where'd you go, Bro?" he asked.

"Just thinking about Taylor and Tammy."

"What about them?"

I explained what I'd overheard in the kitchen.

"Do you really think Tammy taught Taylor those habits?"

"Those are the same habits Tammy had when we first started dating, Matt. The ones her father pushed on her."

"But Amy is right. Gymnasts are fanatics about their weight."

"So was Tammy's father. He taught her that it was wrong for a girl to eat more than a certain amount in public, to weigh more than a certain weight. It took me forever to get her to eat a full meal, which is part of the reason why it took me so long to bring her over for dinner. I didn't want to make her uncomfortable around Dad. You know how he gets about people eating."

"So you think it was a combination of family and sport that made her like this?"

"I wouldn't doubt it. I went through Tammy's things while Taylor was still in the hospital. Her father got to her after they left Cameron, Matt. There was nothing left of the Tammy I remembered, not really. Her jewelry was all expensive jewelry, her clothes were all prim and proper, no jeans, t-shirts, none of that. And none of her clothes were bigger than a size four. I'd bet my life that Tamara became a full-on anorexic after having Taylor again."

"What are you gonna do about this, Jeff? We can't let Taylor just keep not eating," Matt said, worried.

"I don't want her to know I overheard what she said to Aimes," I started.

"But she's _your_ daughter, Jeff. You have to do something."

"She promised Amy she'd work with her to start eating more. I wanna let Aimes have a chance, since the two of them have gotten so close. If it works, fine, if not, I'll figure out something, just like I did with Tamara. But I'm not gonna just walk over Aimes after everything she's already done to help me with her," I finished.

Matt and I finished moving the furniture and ordered a pizza. Taylor was asleep in my bed. I decided to leave her there for the night. When he left, Amy and I were sitting on the couch having a beer.

"I heard what you and Taylor talked about in the kitchen tonight," I said to her.

"You were eavesdropping?" she asked, shocked.

"No. I was going into the kitchen but stopped because I didn't want to interrupt you two. Then I realized you had the nerve to bring up what I'd been trying to figure out how to talk to her about for a bit. Thank you."

"I'm just as worried about her as you, Matt, and Gil are. She's a great kid, she just got taught some really shitty habits," Amy explained.

"I'm sure I know where she learned them," I said.

"Her coaches."

"Not just them. Her mother and her mother's family."

"What do you mean?"

I told Amy about Tamara and how I had to help her with anorexia when we were teenagers.

"It makes sense that it would be so ingrained. If it came from _everyone_ around her, it's a miracle the girl eats anything at all."

"So do you have a plan?"

"I got her to eat a whole bowl of fruit salad tonight," she said to me smiling. I loved her smile. "I figured get her to eat small things. Toast, yogurt, granola bars, cereal, things like that, and add a little more food to what she eats daily."

"Pretty much how I did things with her mother. But it was easier for me to approach it with her mother. I'd known her longer, I didn't feel like I had as much to lose by pressing the issue. Thank you for helping me with this. All of it."

"It's why I'm here," Amy said, smiling at me again.

I don't know what I was thinking. Actually, I don't think I was thinking. I leaned over and kissed Amy. When she didn't pull away from me, I deepened the kiss, both of us fumbling to put our beers down. Before I knew it, I had Amy pinned on the couch kissing her, touching her, wanting to do more, but knowing I wouldn't with Taylor in the next room.

Eventually, we got control of ourselves. Amy's face was flushed. I didn't know whether to be embarrassed or not. We'd always been close and I was worried I'd just destroyed that. Before she could say anything, I grabbed my cell, my jacket and made my way to the front door.

"If Taylor wakes up needing anything, call me. I'll be in the Imag-I-Nation."

She nodded at me and I walked out my door, wondering what the hell came over me.


	12. Chapter Eleven: Lessons

**Chapter Eleven: Lessons**

**Taylor's POV:**

"Wake up, Taylor," Amy said, nudging me lightly.

It took me a minute to realize I was sleeping in Jeff's bed.

"What time is it?" I asked her, still half asleep.

"Six thirty. Jeff asked me to wake you up and start getting you ready for your first day of school," she explained. "Come on, time for breakfast."

I sat up. If I was in Jeff's bed, where was he?

"Where's Jeff?" I asked her.

She looked at me like she was debating what to tell me.

"He spent the night in the Imag-I-Nation," she said finally.

"Because I was in his bed? You guys could've woken me up," I said, worried I'd upset him.

"No, Sweetie. He does that when he needs to think. He's okay. He'll be here to take you to school," she said to me.

She got me up and we went to the kitchen. I sat at the table and she gave me some orange juice. A few minutes later, she gave me a few pieces of buttered toast.

"If you can eat these three pieces of toast and have a yogurt for lunch at school, I will be very proud of you," she said to me.

I looked at the toast. It wasn't a lot to ask. A few pieces of toast now, some yogurt in a few hours? I could do that, right? It took me ten minutes, but I ate the toast and drank the juice. When I was done, I took a shower and Amy helped me get dressed for school.

Jeff walked in the house wearing the same clothes he was wearing yesterday, covered in even more paints, this time there were oil paints on him. He was obviously painting all night. He looked distracted, almost as if he didn't really know what was going on around him.

"You okay, Jeff?" I asked him.

"Yeah, Taylor. Just give me fifteen minutes to shower and change so I can take you to school," he said giving me a smile.

"I'm in no rush," I said smiling back at him, trying to lighten the mood.

He left me and Amy in the living room, going into his room, closing the door behind him.

**Jeff's POV:**

I still wasn't sure how to face Amy or what to say to her. Obviously she didn't tell Taylor why I left, which I was grateful for. I needed time to think after what I'd done. Still, Taylor was the priority and it had been nearly a month since she'd been in school. It was time for her to go back and I had to take her in to Union Pines, my old high school, to get her registered.

After a quick shower, where I'm sure I missed some of the paint, I threw on a pair of jeans, a plaid shirt, and sneakers. My hair, which was green now, hung loose around my shoulders. I grabbed my car keys and went back to the living room. Ready or not, I couldn't hide from Amy.

"Amy, do you want to hang out in town today or what because I need to go see Shannon after I drop Taylor," I asked.

"Actually, I told Matt I'd help him pick up Taylor's furniture for his place. He's picking me up here in half an hour."

"Do you mind picking Taylor up when she gets out after school today?"

"No problem. I'm sure Matt remembers where your old high school is," she said to me, smiling.

I wanted to kiss her again, but I couldn't keep focusing on that.

"Thanks," I said to Amy before turning to Taylor. "Ready to go, Kid?"

"I guess so. School's school everywhere, right?" Taylor replied.

"Union Pines is probably small compared to the schools in San Antonio," I told her as I led her out to my car.

It only took us a few minutes to drive to the school. Walking back into the school as a parent was weird. I had been back, but it had been to do fundraisers with Matt and OMEGA. Now I was walking in and heading towards the administration office.

"Jeffrey Nero Hardy! Is that you?" asked Mrs. Walters, the ancient secretary that had been at the school even when I was a student.

"Yes, Mrs. Walters, it is. How are you today, Ma'am?"

"I'm wonderful. What brings you back here?"

"I'm here to register my daughter, Ma'am," I said to Mrs. Walters before turning to Taylor. "Wait outside for a minute, Taylor?"

She nodded and went into the hallway.

"Daughter? I didn't know you had a daughter, Jeffrey," she said looking at me shocked.

"Yes, Ma'am. She's nearly sixteen. Been living in Texas with her mother, Tamara Adams."

"I remember her! The two of you were so cute together! Is she back here, too?"

"No, Ma'am. That's why Taylor is here in Cameron, now, Mrs. Waters. They were in an accident and her mother died a few weeks ago. We're just getting to know each other," I explained.

"That poor girl. I'm sorry she's lost her mama, Jeffrey."

"Thank you, Ma'am. It's been tough on her."

"You wait right here. I'll get Mrs. Castille to set up her program," she said as she walked away.

I got Taylor from the hallway, explaining I didn't want to have to have Mrs. Waters all over about her mother so soon. Then I pointed out that because the school and town were so small, it wouldn't be long before everyone knew she was my daughter and how she wound up living with me. Before we could get into much more, Mrs. Waters came back with Mrs. Castille.

"Jeff Hardy, it's been too long," said the raven haired woman with Mrs. Waters.

"Andrea?" I asked in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm one of the school guidance counselors now. What are you doing here?"

"Andrea, this is my daughter, Taylor. Taylor, this is…"

"Mrs. Castille, your guidance counselor and a very old friend of your father's," she said cutting me off before turning back to me. "Is this Tamara's daughter?"

I nodded.

"We can talk about that later," she said, leading us to her office. "For now, let's talk about Taylor."

Andrea pulled out a file from her desk drawer. After looking it over, she put it down and looked at us.

"Well, she's ahead of her studies from what I can see from her transcripts, which is good since she's been out of school for a bit now. And I understand that she's still recovering from injuries so she can't take phys ed, but with all the years of gymnastics she's got under her belt, I can easily have her given a pass on those credits. Here is where your first big choice as a parent comes in, Jeff," she started. "Taylor's credits are borderline. Even though she is only fifteen, the classes she was taking, her grades, I can easily start her here at Union Pines as a junior. It might be a challenge for her, but the sophomore level work might be too easy for her. What would you prefer to do?"

I hadn't even thought about anything like that. I looked at Taylor.

"Would you prefer to skip a year, Taylor or stay with the kids your own age?" I asked her.

Taylor looked at me and then Andrea. She seemed unsure. I didn't know if I was making the right choice by asking her what she wanted in this situation.

"I don't think I'm gonna fit in fully either way. I'll skip the grade," she said finally.

Andrea looked at me for confirmation. I nodded.

"I think if she wants to skip the grade she should be able to," I said.

Andrea looked at the computer and typed some things in. After a few minutes, she printed a schedule for Taylor. She handed it to Taylor along with a late pass.

"Taylor, here is your class schedule and a late pass. Your first period class is Honor's History with Mr. Kenton. You'll need the late pass or he won't let you into his class this late. You should get going. Welcome to Union Pines. If you need anything, even if it's just to talk, feel free to come see me, it's what I'm here for," Andrea said giving Taylor an encouraging smile.

Taylor and I got up to go.

"Not you, Jeff. I'm not done with you, yet," she said stopping me.

I looked at Taylor.

"I'll see you tonight when I get home. Try to have a good day, alright?" I said as I hugged her.

When Taylor left the room I sat back down.

"What's wrong, Andrea?" I asked.

"I didn't know the new student was your daughter with Tammy. I knew she was living with her father because her mother died. How is she handling it?"

"She's trying. Taking things as they come," I answered.

"How much does she know about your past?"

"Do you mean the drugs and everything?"

Andrea nodded.

"I told her the truth before I brought her back to Cameron. I didn't want her finding out from anyone but me. She wasn't sure how to take it, but in the end she took it okay because I was honest. It helps that I've had an old friend from the WWE with me since right after the accident helping me with everything."

"What friend?"

"Amy Dumas. Lita."

"She's in town?"

"Yeah. She's been staying with me to help out with Taylor. She's been a huge help."

"Jeff, you need help," Andrea blurted out.

"What do you mean?"

"Whether or not a child should skip a grade shouldn't be left to the child. That should've been _your_ choice, not Taylor's. I understand that you haven't been allowed to be in her life for all these years, but you can't just give her everything she wants to make up for it either."

"That's not why I did it, Andrea," I said slightly offended.

"Then why did you let a fifteen year old tell you how to handle her educational decisions?"

"Because I didn't know what to do. And Taylor's right, she's not gonna fit in completely either way here. She's not the same as the other kids here. She's from a big city, she's my daughter, her mother is dead. Being the youngest kid in her grade is gonna be the least of the things that makes her stick out here in Cameron. That much I do know," I snapped.

"Have the two of you thought about therapy? Or some other kind of support?"

"Matt and Dad are helping. We'll be okay, Andrea. I just need time to adjust. Thanks for your concern, but really, between me, Amy, Matt, and Dad, I think we'll be okay," I said to her as I got up. "It was good seeing you again, but I gotta get some things done before tonight."

"If you change your mind, let me know," Andrea said, letting me go.

I got back into my car and drove to my friend Shannon Moore's tattoo shop. The only reason he was there so early was because I told him I needed to talk to him. Walking in, he was half asleep in one of the tattoo chairs.

"Hey, Shannon. Thanks for getting up so early," I said, giving him a fist pound.

"What's up, man? I haven't heard from you much since before you went to San Antonio?" He asked yawning.

"I've been busy with Taylor, but I just dropped her at Union Pines. Andrea Miller is her guidance counselor."

"My ex?"

"Same one."

"So that's what she's doing now," he said thoughtfully. "So what was so urgent that you needed to see me at this unholy hour?"

"Something happened after Taylor crashed and Matt went home last night."

"What do you mean?"

"You know Amy's been staying with me to help me with Taylor, right?"

"Matt mentioned it, yeah."

"Well, after Matt went home last night, Amy and I were having a beer, talking, and the next thing I knew, we were making out on my couch."

"How did Aimes take it, Jeff?"

"I don't know. I spent the night in the Imag-I-Nation. This morning I went back to the house, showered, changed, and took Taylor to school. I haven't spent any time alone with her since then. I don't know what I was thinking, but Matt's gonna kill me, Shannon."

"I don't think he will, Jeff. He's your brother."

"You know how he felt about Amy."

"That was a long time ago. They've both moved on."

"That doesn't mean he'd be okay with me being with her."

"You can't avoid them. This isn't you."

"I don't need this right now. Taylor is my priority. I'm not looking for anything else. She's all I need right now."

"I don't know, Jeff. Something's going on. This happened for a reason. You need to talk to Amy."

Shannon was right. I spent the rest of the day just jamming in the shop with him before I went home to Taylor and Amy.


	13. Chapter Twelve: Firsts

**Chapter Twelve: Firsts**

**Taylor's POV:**

My first day of school could've been better, it could've been worse. My teachers made a big deal about the fact that I had recently moved to Cameron from San Antonio. Thankfully, my transcripts and everything were under my mom's name, so nobody knew that I was Jeff Hardy's daughter. At least they didn't know yet. I didn't think it would last more than a few days. By lunch time I was tired of having to explain what it was like to move from big San Antonio to tiny Cameron and was grateful for the reprieve. I went to the cafeteria, and like I promised Amy, I got a yogurt and water before I left.

"I heard her mother is dead and she was hospitalized for a while after she died. That's why she's starting so school so late," I overheard some girl saying on my way out of the cafeteria.

"Just what Cameron needs. Some psychotic reject from the big city," her friend said back to her.

I tried to ignore the talking on my way out. Once I was out of the cafeteria, I went to Mrs. Castille's office. Her door was open and I knocked on the frame.

"Taylor, come in," she said, smiling at me.

I entered the office and closed the door behind me.

"What can I do for you?" she asked.

"I was just wondering. At my old school we were allowed to hang out outside on the campus during lunch and free periods. Can we do that here?"

"You can do that during lunch. You don't really get free periods here," she said looking at me. "How are you adjusting?"

"It's school. I'll be fine."

"I don't just mean to the school. I mean to the town, to your family."

"I'll be okay. I'm getting used to it. It's just different. It's easier with Amy here and Jeff being honest even if it's hard for him."

"If you need to talk, I'm here for you."

"Thanks, but I'm okay."

I walked out of the office and went outside into the sunshine. Finding a tree to hide under, I sat down putting on my iPod, I put on the music I found on iTunes that Jeff had put out wanting to hear what his music was like. Honestly, I tried to eat the yogurt, but I couldn't. I drank the bottle of water, but between all the kids at the school giving me weird looks and spreading stories about why I wound up in their little town and the fact that it was just hard for me to eat in public, I couldn't do it. A few minutes before my trigonometry class was supposed to start, I threw the yogurt out, feeling guilty that I didn't keep up my end of the deal with Amy. Before going into the building, I texted Matt and asked him to meet me at my locker when they picked me up and gave him the number. I had a lot of homework already and I couldn't carry all the textbooks I was getting on my own yet.

Going back into the building, I was putting the iPod away when I bumped into someone and nearly fell over. The person grabbed my arm to steady me. I looked up and saw somebody wearing a lettermen's jacket and cursed in my head. The last thing I needed was to get on the wrong side of either the jocks or the cheerleaders.

"Sorry," I said, politely pulling away from him. "I should've been looking where I was going."

"No, I'm fine," he said to me. "You're the new girl right?"

I groaned inwardly. Here we go again.

"Yep. That's me. New Girl," I said sarcastically with my Texas drawl.

"My name is Collin. What's your name?" he asked me laughing at my sarcasm.

"Taylor. Taylor Adams."

"I heard you're here in Cameron because you lost your Mama. I'm sorry to hear that," Collin said.

I didn't say anything. I just pulled out my class schedule, trying to figure out where my trig class was to get away from him.

"What's your next class?" he asked.

"Trig with Ms. Travis."

"Come on, I'll show you where the class is. I'm in her class. Aren't you a little young to be in her class?"

"I skipped a year."

"So you're a junior like I am?"

"Yeah. I was in advanced classes back in Texas, so they skipped me a year when I made my class schedule."

"That's cool. Obviously, you won't need any help here."

_No,_ I thought to myself as we walked, _I just need to find a way to make people stay away from me._

"Nope. I'm good so far. Just a lot of work to catch up on since I've been out of school for a while."

At that moment, a blonde in came up to us throwing herself all over Collin.

"You must be the new girl! I'm Addison and if you need anything to help you adjust to Union Pines, I'd be happy to help you out," she said to me giving me a conniving look.

"Hi Addison. I'm Taylor," I said, placing her voice as one of the girls talking about me in the cafeteria. "But I'm good. The only thing I need to do is get to my classes."

She snatched my class schedule out of my hands, looking it over.

"You're in all honors classes for juniors. Aren't you a sophomore? And why don't you have a gym class?" Addison asked being nosey.

"I'm a junior, actually," I said snatching my schedule back glaring at her. "And I'm not in a gym class because I've been a competitive gymnast for years. They're giving me experience credit for that."

"That's not right! I'm an athlete!" she complained.

I bit my tongue, not wanting to insult one of the cheerleaders on my first day at a new school. Addison quickly composed herself.

"So, gymnastics? Will you be trying out for cheerleading?"

I had to choke back a laugh.

"No. Actually, I'm gonna focus on school and getting to know my dad right now. No more gymnastics for now, no cheerleading. Sorry," I said, giving her an insincere apology.

"Who is your father, anyway?" Addison asked.

I didn't want to answer her, but I remembered I had asked Matt to meet me _inside_ the school that afternoon. Anyone still in the building would see him with me and the whole school would know by tomorrow. I looked Addison dead in the eye, which took me looking up.

"One of the town's more well-known residents," was all I said.

"Right," she said. "You are some loon from Texas, aren't you?"

"Addison. That's enough," Collin said, defending me.

"No, Collin. Haven't you heard what people have said about her? She's here because her Mama died, but before her Daddy brought her here to Cameron she was hospitalized. She's crazy!" Addison went off.

I walked off. I wasn't going to say anything to her. I wasn't getting into this conversation. Finding my way to trig, I made it into the class a minute before the late bell. Getting ready for the last two classes of teachers making a spectacle of me for the day, I took a deep breath and took a seat.

When the day was over, I was relieved, especially since Addison was in my last period English class. Being the new girl in school in such a small school was harder than I expected. As the door to my English class opened I noticed there was a big crowd outside my classroom. I hoped it had nothing to do with me. Then I started hearing some of the comments from outside.

"It's Matt Hardy!"

"Matt Hardy came back to Union Pines!"

He got my class schedule. Part of me was relieved to have him at my classroom to get this over with sooner, but I wasn't going into the middle of that crowd. I made my way past the crowd. People were throwing me glares.

"Taylor!" I heard Matt call to me.

I turned around. He signed a few more autographs and started making his way to me.

"Sorry, Taylor," he said catching up to me. "I didn't think about the commotion I'd cause coming in here."

"That's okay, neither did I when I asked you to meet me in here," I replied to him. "Thanks for meeting me, Matt."

"No problem. Come on, let's get your books and get you home," he said, taking my backpack.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Addison and Collin following us. Matt and I made it to my locker and I opened it. He started grabbing my textbooks, throwing them into a gym bag he was carrying. Addison and Collin came up to us. I glared at her, not in the mood to deal with her.

"So is Matt Hardy the well-known town resident that's your father, Taylor?" Addison asked.

"No." I said.

Matt closed and locked my locker before turning around to take in the situation. Collin extended his hand to Matt.

"Matt, my name is Collin Deveraux. I'm a huge fan of yours."

"Hi, Collin. Nice to meet you. Football team?" Matt asked.

"Football and track," Collin said.

"Nice," Matt replied.

"And I'm Addison James," Addison said.

Matt looked from Addison to me.

"Am I missing something here, Taylor?" he asked me.

"Not really. Just Addison trying to figure out my life story while she spreads rumors that I'm some Texas psychopath brought to wreak havoc in Cameron, Matt."

"Cheerleader?" he asked me.

"Yeah."

"I'm just trying to figure out about Cameron's newest resident," Addison said defensively.

"And if she wants to tell you, she will. Until she does, leave my niece alone," Matt said to Addison, giving her the only piece of the puzzle the school was getting about me for now, there was no way to keep that with him picking me up anyway.

"So, wait. Taylor, you're _Jeff Hardy's _daughter?" asked Collin.

I nodded at him.

"That is so awesome! Can we talk tomorrow at lunch? I'd love to know more!" he said excitedly.

I looked at Matt. I wasn't sure about letting anyone in here. He nodded encouragingly at me.

"Did you see where I was hanging out before I bumped into you earlier?"

"Yeah," Collin said.

"You can meet me there tomorrow during lunch. Alone. I'm still not sure about crowds here," I said.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Collin said.

"Can we go now?" I said looking at Matt.

"Come on, Taylor," he said as we left the building, leaving Collin and Addison arguing about me in the hallway.

**Jeff's POV:**

I got home around dinner time, bringing dinner home with me. I picked up pizza from the pizza place Tammy used to work at. When I got into the house, I found Amy sitting on the couch jamming with one of my guitars. She looked up when I came in, stopping.

"Hey," she said to me.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to disturb your flow," I said to her.

"This is your house, Jeff," she said, laughing.

"Where's Taylor?"

"Her room. She hasn't come out or said a word since Matt and I picked her up from school. Matt said one of the cheerleaders is starting with her already, but I think there's more. She won't even look at me."

"Can you take this?" I asked, motioning to the pizza. "I'll go see if I can get her to come down for a slice."

Amy took the pizza and went into the kitchen. I went upstairs and knocked on Taylor's door. She didn't answer.

"Taylor, it's Jeff. I'm coming in to talk," I said, opening the door and entering the room.

The lights were out. I could hear music coming from her iPod from the other side of the room. The only reason I could see her was because she was using some of my glow in the dark paints on her canvas. I carefully made my way across the room and gently touched her shoulder. She jumped. I walked back to the door and turned on the lights.

"When did you get home, Jeff?" she asked me, putting the palette on her desk and sitting down.

"A few minutes ago. I brought dinner home. Pizza. Amy's downstairs getting it ready," I said.

She looked away from me and back to her easel and canvas.

"Bad day?"

"This girl is just being a real asshole and then tried acting like a sweetheart to Matt. It's fine. Nothing new in high school."

"Matt went into the school?" I asked a little pissed that he would draw that kind of attention to her.

"I asked him to. I had a lot of homework and my textbooks were too much for me to carry so I texted him to meet me inside. I didn't think about how the other kids would react to seeing Matt Hardy in the halls."

"So they know you're part of the family now. Are you okay with that?"

"They know I'm your daughter and I knew they'd find out pretty fast so it doesn't matter."

I tried thinking what would make her so upset that she would avoid Amy all day like I had. They had been so close and she had even let her in about her problems that she wouldn't talk to me about. Then it hit me. The anorexia.

"Have you eaten today, Taylor?" I asked her gently.

She wouldn't look at me.

"Yes," she said. "Why do you ask?"

"Amy told you she was going to be honest with me. She told me that the two of you agreed that you would try to eat a little a few times a day. Did something happen?" I said, still trying to be non-judgmental, lost as to how to deal with the situation.

Taylor looked at the floor and I knew the look. She felt guilty. She broke her promise and she was avoiding Amy so she didn't have to talk to her. Like father like daughter, apparently.

"Come here," I said moving to her bed and sitting down.

She followed me over and sat next to me. I lifted her face to look into my eyes and kept her hands in mine.

"I can't say that I understand what you're dealing with here. I'm lost. _But_, I do know feeling guilty well. So why don't you tell me what happened?"

"Amy asked me to do one thing today, Jeff. _One thing_. And I couldn't do it. I broke my promise to her. How can I tell her that?"

"What did she ask you to do?"

"At breakfast she asked me to eat a yogurt for lunch at school. I got upset and even though I had the yogurt and I was going to, I threw it away."

"Today was a hard day for you. Amy told me that you had a girl starting with you. I'm sure if you told her the truth, that you were overwhelmed, and came downstairs and tried to eat something now, she wouldn't be mad at you."

"How do you know, Jeff?"

"Because Amy likes you and she wants to help you. Getting mad isn't going to help you," I said getting up and holding my hand out to her. "Come one. One slice?"

She looked at me uncertainly. Finally she took my hand and came downstairs with me. We sat down and she apologized to Amy, explaining why she avoided her. Amy accepted her apology even though she told her there was nothing to apologize for. Taylor ate a slice of pizza before asking to be excused to do her homework, which she hadn't done since she'd been painting all afternoon. I let her go with a smile.

"She's a lot like me."

"Yeah. She doesn't like to upset people. She puts a lot of pressure on herself and then it comes out with her hurting herself. Sounds familiar," Amy said.

I looked at her.

"Amy," I started.

"What was that last night, Jeff? Because I know you weren't drunk off of one beer," she asked, interrupting me. "And why did you run out of here like a bat out of hell?"

I took a deep breath. I knew I couldn't avoid this. Amy wouldn't let me and it wasn't like me to be scared of things.

"I left because I was confused and I didn't know what to say to you Amy."

"But what happened before you left? Why did you kiss me?"

"I, I think I'm…" I started, before I just blurted my feelings out. "I think I'm starting to fall for you, Amy."

"What?" she asked me in shock.

"I think I'm starting to fall for you and I wasn't expecting it. It confused me. I was embarrassed that I gave into those feelings with Taylor in my bedroom and confused when you kissed me back. I didn't know what was going on in my head and I don't know what Matt's gonna do if he finds out about this, and I needed to figure this out, so I went to clear my head, Aimes," I started explaining. "We've been friends for so long. I would never want to do _anything_ to mess that up and I wasn't looking for something like that, but all of a sudden, the feelings were there."

Amy just looked at me. I was scared I had just destroyed a really strong relationship that had weathered even her bad break-up with Matt. Even when she wasn't talking to him, we stayed close.

"Amy. Amy, please say something to me," I pleaded with her.

"Jeff, how did this happen? We've been close forever and you've never had feelings before," she said. "Have you?"

"I don't know. I've always been very overprotective of you. You knew that."

"But I thought it was because we were friends."

"So did I… But I see your smile and it lights up the room, like anything that's gone wrong can get better. This is what I feel when I look at you. You make me feel like I'm invincible, like I can do anything."

"This is a lot to take in, Jeff."

"It is for me, too. I wasn't looking for a relationship, Amy. I swear that's not why I let Matt call you. But the longer we've been here together, the more my feelings grew without me realizing it because I've been so focused on Taylor."

"I don't want to rush into something, Jeff. I'm not looking for love."

My heart clenched at her words.

"I understand," I replied, forcing the pain down my throat. "I just appreciate everything you're doing for Taylor. I hope you don't pull away from me because I was hormonal."

"I'm not going anywhere, Hardy," she said smiling. "Go get some sleep. You need it. I'll clean up."

I nodded at her and walked away. In my room, I closed the door and crawled into my bed, trying to figure out what to do about my feelings about a girl that was nearly my sister-in-law nearly a decade before.


	14. Chapter 13: Changes

**Chapter Thirteen: Changes**

**Jeff's POV:**

Things got a little easier between me and Taylor as time went on. When she was almost done with her physical therapy, two months after moving to Cameron, I decided it was time to go back to work. I had put off my return for nearly three months and I missed my fans, not that I didn't love bonding with my daughter. TNA had a show in Raleigh so I decided to talk to Dixie and make my return there. She agreed and I sat Taylor down to talk about it.

"Hey, Kid," I said as we sat down for her to have her afternoon snack. "How was school?"

"It's school, Jeff. People either want to be my best friend because I'm a Hardy or they hate me because I'm a Hardy. What do you expect in high school?"

"I'm sorry that you're having a hard time."

"They would've found something to pick on me about even if it wasn't that. Doesn't matter. I don't even let it bother me anymore," she said as she started picking at the celery sticks with peanut butter Amy left for her before going over to Matt's. "Where's Amy? She's normally here when I get home from school."

"I asked her to go hang out with Matt so we could talk about something."

"Am I in trouble?"

"No," I said laughing. "Why do you ask?"

"Because usually when an adult wants to talk to me alone, I'm in some kind of trouble," she said with a smirk.

"No, no trouble, unless there's something I should know?"

She cocked her head to the side like she was thinking for a minute.

"Nothing really. You don't give me a lot of rules to break, so there's not much I can do to get into trouble."

"I give you rules, I just give you the freedom to make your own choices, too," I said slightly defensive, remembering what Michael told me the day Taylor got out of the hospital.

"I know. It's just since you basically just ask me to be honest with you so we can work on things and that you want me to be free to be who I am for the first time in my life, there's not a lot I can do to get into trouble, unless I start lying, which I haven't done."

"Good to know," I said smiling at her.

"So what did you want to talk about if I'm not in trouble?"

"Well, remember I told you I would be going back to work eventually?"

"Yeah."

"Well the promotion I work for has a few shows here in North Carolina next week, starting in Raleigh on Friday night. I'm going back then."

"Wow," she said, putting her celery down. "That's soon."

"It's been a few months, Taylor. I know the time has gone by real fast, but I was supposed to make my in-ring return nearly three months ago. I don't regret putting it off, I've loved spending time with you and getting to know you, but you're physical therapy is almost done and it's time for me to go back to work."

"I understand."

"But, with the shows being here in North Carolina next week I can bring you with me to the shows. You can hang out backstage and see how things are run."

"Really? You'll bring me with you?" she asked brightening up.

"Yeah. I was even thinking about inviting my boss and some of the wrestlers over here for a party before I go back. This way you can meet them before I take you on the road for the weekend."

"That's awesome, Jeff!"

"There's only one thing I need from you if you're coming with me next weekend, Taylor."

"What?"

"You need to bring your schoolwork and make sure your homework is done by Sunday night. I need to know if I bring you on the road with me on the weekends you're still gonna do your homework."

"No problem."

Taylor got quiet.

"Is something wrong, Taylor?"

"Not really. I don't think," she started. "It's not about me anyway."

"What's it about, then?"

"You. Well, you and Amy."

I had to struggle not to let my jaw drop.

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want to see something that's not there, but I swear I see something in your eyes when you look at her when she looks at you. I don't know what it is, but when she's not looking, you have a look in your eyes and when you're not looking, she has that same look. Is there something going on? Or should something be going on that's not because of me?"

"Right now, all I can say is Amy and I have been close friends for a very long time, Taylor."

"Alright, Jeff. Just… I get that you must have loved my mom at some point so her dying must have been just as hard for you as it was for me, but if there _is_ something there between you and Amy, don't ignore it because of me. Okay? Promise?"

I laughed.

"I promise that I would not stop living my life for you, Taylor. You _are_ the most important part of my life now, but if I found someone I loved that I thought would fit into _our_ life here, I promise that I won't ignore the chance."

"Thanks. I don't want to feel like I destroyed your life by coming here," she said looking at the piece of celery in her hand.

I got up and hugged her.

"You didn't destroy my life, Taylor. Don't you ever think that. I've wanted you here for a _very, very_ long time. You've made my life better, even if the situation was bad. I love you, Taylor and I would never think you destroyed my life and I really don't want you to think that either."

I kissed her forehead. She put her celery down and hugged me tightly.

"How about this, you finish your snack and do your homework, then we can go to Leaps of Fate and do some motocross when you're done?"

"Really? Even though it's a school night?"

"If you do your homework and know you still need to get up for school tomorrow then why not?"

"Definitely!"

"Awesome," I said to her. "I'll be back in a little bit. I'm going over to BCR to talk to Matt and Amy. If you finish your homework before I come home, call my cell and I'll come back so we can go out back, alright?"

"Sure. I'll see you a little later, Jeff."

Taylor went back to her snack. I kissed the top of her head, grabbed my car keys and cell phone, leaving her in the kitchen. I drove the mile and a half to Matt's house and took a minute to brace myself before I went inside.

Matt and Amy were hanging out in the living room talking. I questioned what I was doing, but I had spent nearly a month trying to figure it out. Knowing there was a possibility that Amy was going to leave the Hardy Compound soon I decided I needed to do it, I just didn't know what to do.

"Hey Jeff, how's Taylor?" Matt asked, seeing me walk in his living room.

"Having a snack. After she does her homework we're gonna go to Leaps of Fate to do some motocross later if you two want to come."

"You left her alone?" Amy asked.

"She's fifteen. I'm a three minute drive and believe me, the girl knows how to use a phone," I said, laughing.

"Still, she shouldn't be alone when she eats, Jeff. You told me you'd stay with her while she ate."

I'd forgotten.

"She ate about half of the celery by the time I left," I said.

"I'm gonna go check on her," Amy said as she got up. "I'll talk to you later, Matt."

"I'm sorry, Amy. Here, take my car. I'll have Matt give me a ride back to my place," I said giving her my keys.

"It's fine, Jeff. I just don't want her to be tempted to throw the food away and lie about it."

"She hasn't given us a reason to think she'll lie to us, Amy."

"No, but anorexics are different when it comes to food. I just want to make sure, Jeff."

Amy left. I ran my hands through my blue hair, turning back to my older brother.

"I'm an idiot."

"Sometimes," Matt said, laughing.

"Not funny. Amy's right. I did tell her I'd make sure Taylor ate and then I left her alone. She's never lied to us, but I guess I didn't think about the fact that for someone with anorexia food is a whole different ballgame."

"You've been a father for three months, Jeff. Taylor hasn't gotten hurt, maimed or killed. I don't think you're doing a bad job," Matt said with a serious face.

I started laughing.

"Asshole."

"So what brings you to the BCR today?"

"I can't just come visit my big bro?"

"Nope. What's up?"

"I told Taylor I'm going back to work. TNA will be in North Carolina next weekend, starting with Raleigh on Friday night. I'm returning then and I'm gonna bring her with me when I go."

"How she'd take it?"

"Not too bad. I told her I'm gonna invite some of the people I work with over for a party before we go on the road. She seemed okay with that. Then somehow we got on a conversation about her being worried she ruined my life by being here."

"Why does she think that?"

"She thinks that there's something going on between me and Amy that we won't give into because of her."

"Is there?" Matt asked cautiously.

_Shit. I shouldn't have said that._

I took a deep breath.

"Amy and me, we're just friends, Matt. You know that."

"But?"

"What do you mean, 'but?'"

"What are you not telling me Jeff?"

"Something _did_ happen. The night we did her room at my place."

Anger flashed on Matt's face and he pinned me to his living room wall faster than I could register.

"What do you mean something happened, Jeffrey?" Matt asked.

"I kissed her," I coughed out. "We were having a beer and I kissed her. We started making out and then I came to my senses and went to the Imag-I-Nation. That's all, Matt."

Matt went to punch me. I shifted and got out of his grip.

"What the hell, Jeff?!"

"I don't know! It just happened!"

He rushed me, but I twisted around him, staying out of his grip.

"What the hell do you mean it just happened?!"

"I realized that when she smiles it lights up the room and I feel something, Matt! I can't help that." I said pleading with my brother to understand.

"How could you do that to me?!"

"To you?! You and Amy broke up years ago! The two of you have been nothing but friends for a long time! And for your information, I don't think anything will ever come between me and her because she pretty much shut me down!"

Matt had been inching towards me while I explained. He punched me in the jaw.

"I think you need to go, Jeff."

"Fine."

I left and slammed the door behind me. I started the walk back to my place, not wanting to call Amy to pick me up. It seemed like the only one not pissed off at me was Taylor at this point.

**Taylor's POV:**

Amy came in the door and sat down at the table with me.

"Are you okay?" I asked, taking a bite out of the piece of celery in my hand.

"Yeah. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine. You seem annoyed. Did Jeff piss you off?"

"He told me he'd stay with you until you finished eating and then didn't. It just annoyed me that he said he'd do something and didn't."

"I'm okay, Amy. I don't need to be watched all the time."

"I know. It's only when you're eating. You know I prefer someone be with you when you eat so we know how much you eat."

I groaned in my head.

"I know. I wish you'd trust me. When I don't eat, I've told you ultimately. I feel guilty if I break that promise to you."

"It's not about a promise to me, Sweetie. It's about getting you healthy. You look better. I think you've put on a few pounds since you've moved here and it really makes you look more alive."

I tried not to panic about her mentioning that I may have gained weight. She was right that I needed to. I'd been wearing a size zero forever.

"I know, I just wish you'd trust me a little more. I don't lie in the food journal you asked me to keep, even if I don't eat as much as you asked me to eat and if you ask me a direct question I've always been honest with you."

"I do trust you, Taylor."

"Then is this about my father?"

"What do you mean?"

"I see the way you look at him."

"What do you mean?"

"You and him, when the other's not looking, you look at each other the same way. It's like you're confused."

"That's one way to put it."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing," Amy said clamming up. "That's between me and Jeff. I'm going to let you finish your snack on your own. Maybe I'll go to Leaps of Fate with you and Jeff later. So, hurry with your snack and get your homework done. I'm going outside to make a phone call if you need me."

I smiled at her.

"Thanks for trusting me, Amy."

"You're right that you haven't given me a reason not to."

Amy hugged me and walked outside with her cell phone.

**Jeff's POV:**

_Flashback: 9 years ago:_

"_It's gonna be okay, Amy," I said holding my brother's now ex-girlfriend in my arms. "Matt's pissed off now, but the three of us have been so close for so long, he'll come around and see this is for the best. You'll see, the two of you will find a way to be friends again."_

"_How can you say that? You've seen what he's been doing, Jeff. He's going off-script so much the company has incorporated our relationship problems into storylines. People think I'm a whore, Jeff! I never meant to hurt Matt, but we grew apart. I should've told him, but that was the only thing I did wrong here!" she exclaimed as she cried on my chest._

"_I know. Matt is just really hard to deal with sometimes. You know that. He's stubborn when he's hurt and right now he's hurt. When he stops hurting he'll see he's out of line and come around. In the meantime, I'm still here for you."_

"_For now."_

"_Why do you say that?"_

"_The company will turn you against Lita and we'll grow apart."_

"_I'm not going anywhere, Amy. You're one of my best friends and I can't imagine my life without you. I love you and I don't want to see you hurt. I'm always going to be here for you."_

"_You're one of the best friends I'll ever have, Jeff."_

_I held the crying woman close to me, aching for the pain my own older brother was putting her through. Yes, she'd hurt him, but all the signs were there that the relationship was in trouble for a while. He ignored them. Now he's acting ignorant and betrayed, taking everything out on her, when he could have saved the relationship if he had looked at what was right in front of him… An amazing, fiery woman who wanted nothing more than someone who would love her for who she was._

**Present:**

I was brought out of the memory of how broken Amy was when her and Matt broke up by my cell ringing. I pulled it out of my pocket and looked at the number, expecting it to be Taylor. It was Amy. I answered the phone as I continued my walk home.

"Hey, Aimes. Is Taylor alright?" I asked, trying to keep what happened with me and Matt out of my voice.

"She's fine. She's inside eating."

"So she didn't throw her food out when I left, then."

"No. And I'm sorry I overreacted, Jeff. I'm gonna try to stop. She had the same conversation with me you did before I left to come back here. You're both right. I'm hovering and I should trust her unless she gives me reason not to, which she hasn't."

"So is that what you called me for?"

"Did I interrupt something?"

"No. Sorry. What's up, Aimes?"

"Did Taylor bring up you and me being together to you?"

"Yeah. She said something about it, why?"

"She just brought it up to me, too."

"I didn't ask her to. I swear, Aimes. You asked me to let it go and I did."

"I know. But I think we need to talk, Jeff."

"I'll be home in about ten minutes. I'm walking home now."

"Walking? What happened with Matt driving you?"

"We got into a fight, he punched me and told me to leave."

"Why were you fighting?"

"I told him I kissed you."

"Why, Jeff?"

"I couldn't keep hiding it. It felt wrong."

"And he hit you?!"

"Yeah. He's still pretty possessive of you. Or he just doesn't want _me _touching you. I don't know."

"I'll deal with Matt."

"Don't. This is between me and my brother."

"Jeff…"

"No. Really. I'll be fine. We can talk when I get home. Just don't tell Taylor about this. I want to see if my jaw is bruising before I tell her."

"I won't tell her."

"Thanks, Aimes. I'll see you in a few."

I hung up the phone and kept walking, wondering what would happen when Amy and I finally talked about things. It took me just over the ten minutes to get to the house. When I did, I was grateful that Taylor was upstairs in her room doing her homework. I was able to get right into my room unnoticed to check the damage that Matt had done to me.

Looking in the mirror, I could see that there was some slight swelling in my jaw and I knew that it was going to bruise. I cursed to myself, hating that my brother was such an asshole sometimes. Walking back outside, I went to the kitchen and got some ice to control the swelling in my jaw.

"He caught you good, didn't he?" Amy asked, coming up behind me.

"I'll be fine. I've taken worse hits. Mark. Both Marks, actually," I said, referring to Mark, The Undertaker of the WWE and Mark, known as Bubba Ray Dudley to the WWE and known now as Bully Ray in TNA. "I can take a hit."

"He shouldn't have hit you."

"I shouldn't have told him. I knew he'd be pissed off."

"You have a right to do what you want. Matt and I have been over for like a decade. He has no right. If anyone had a right to hit you over what happened that night it was me and I didn't. I didn't want to."

I looked at Amy. The light coming in the window made her hair glow.

"It doesn't matter. You said you wanted to talk to me?"

"Sit down," she said, sitting down at the table herself.

I sat down across from her, keeping the ice on my jaw.

"So let's talk. What did you want to talk about, Aimes?"

"You know what. Whatever it is that happened between us."

"I'm not pushing. If I am, I'm sorry, I'll stop."

"That's not what I mean. Taylor says she sees you looking at me when I'm not looking."

"I can't help it, Amy. There have been so many times where I've been there for you, held you as you cried, made you laugh when you thought things were hopeless. Now you're doing the same for me, but I feel like maybe there should be more between us. I crossed that line once and you asked me not to and I'm trying not to, but I can't help the way I feel."

"I know. You haven't pressured me, Jeff. But Taylor says she sees the same looks from me towards you."

"She told me that, too. I just didn't want to say anything because I didn't want to push anything between us. I'd rather have you as my friend, like you've been for all these years, then not have you because I pushed something you asked me not to."

"I'm not sure anymore, Jeff."

"What do you mean?"

"The more I think about it, _you_ have been my rock for all these years. Yeah, ultimately Matt and I got to be close friends after our break-up. But it was _you, _Jeff. _You_ were the one who was there for me no matter what. Through the good and the bad, you never gave it a second thought, if I needed a friend, you were there for me. You've always loved me for who I was."

"You're perfect the way you are. I don't care what anyone else says."

"That's my point. Everyone says that my relationship with Matt was epic, but it wasn't like that from the beginning and you know it."

"I know."

"But you and me, we clicked right away and we've always gotten along easily."

"And I've loved every minute of it. I've loved going out with you for tattoos and other things that people call crazy. I loved that I could talk art, music, and poetry with you as easily as I could talk wrestling."

"Exactly. We were always on the same page with each other. I was so scared that when I messed things up with Matt I'd lose you too."

"He messed that up as much as you did. If he opened his eyes, all the signs were there that you weren't happy. He just wouldn't see them."

"I still shouldn't have cheated."

"No, you shouldn't have."

"But me and Matt grew apart. You and me, we just kept growing closer over the years."

"So what does this mean, Amy?"

"Maybe we should give _us_ a try after all."

Even though it hurt, I couldn't help but smile. I got up and kissed her.

"You've just made _me_ the happiest man in the world, Amy Dumas, and I plan on making _you_ the happiest woman."

She laughed and kissed me again. I didn't care how Matt would react to us actually dating at that point. Amy and I were going to give it a try, finally. I was happy. I had my daughter, I had Amy, and I had my career.


	15. Chapter Fourteen: Return to Work

**Chapter Fourteen: Return to Work**

**Jeff's POV:**

Amy and I told Taylor that we were dating, at least that we were giving it a chance, so Amy would be staying in Cameron indefinitely. Taylor was ecstatic. She was less ecstatic on Wednesday afternoon when some of my co-workers from TNA started showing up at the house to meet her. She got very shy all of a sudden. Silently, I prayed to my own mother that I wasn't messing up by introducing her to the people in my life before taking her to events with me knowing that she was still adjusting to how different her life with me was compared to her life with her mother.

Taylor insisted on taking over the grill as people got to the house. By the time Dixie and the others got there, she was cooking enough to feed an army. She sat down with us, but only ate half a burger and some salad. It was a lot for her and I was proud of her. I made a mental note to tell her when the others were gone.

Amy and I cleaned up while Taylor got to know my co-workers. She seemed to get along with James Curtin, aka Rockstar Spud, but I think it was because he was small and less intimidating to her. Jessie Godderz, Rob Strauss, aka Robbie E, and Michael Paris, aka DJ Z, were trying to get her to let go and just have fun with them. Dixie loved that she had southern manners even though she dressed and looked like me, as if I didn't have the manners of a southern boy. Jamie Lynn Szantyr, aka Velvet Sky, was trying to convince Taylor that she should dress more feminine while Gail Kim and Ashley Cabot, aka Madison Rayne, told her to leave her the way she was because Taylor was fine the way she was. Michael Hutter, aka Ethan Carter III, seemed to enjoy the way Taylor would just bounce around in her discomfort. I didn't know what to think of that. Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards were trying to get her to cut loose and follow her "wolf" instincts. They liked her and I think she liked them because she spent more time with them than some of the others. Kurt Angle was genuinely trying to make her feel welcome in the TNA family like the rest of them, but she knew he was an actual Olympian and it intimidated her in ways none of the others intimidated her. Ken Anderson was loud as always and it seemed to make her laugh, which I appreciated. Bobby Roode was trying to get her to talk to him, but she was nervous to have all the wrestlers around her, even though she did try to talk to him. Jeremy Fritz, aka Eric Young, kept trying to get her to show her what kinds of stunts she could do. She seemed to like him. Jessica Kressa, aka ODB, was trying to get her to show her true colors, but Taylor was still trying to figure that out herself. Christopher Parks, aka Abyss, seemed to both intrigue and scare Taylor, so she kept going over to him and keeping her distance at times. Finally, it was Mark LoMonaco and Devon Hughes, aka Bully Ray and Devon, who were trying to get her to be tough like them that got the biggest reaction out of her.

Mark and Devon were joking around with her and Mark grabbed her like he was gonna power bomb her through a table. They were near one of the trees on the property and Taylor grabbed a branch while on his shoulders and performed a perfect skin the cat to pull herself off of Mark's shoulders into the tree. She then climbed another two branches up.

"Hey, Jeff!" Devon called out.

I came back out from the kitchen.

"What's up, guys?"

"I thought you had a teenaged daughter, not a monkey," Mark said, pointing up to Taylor.

I couldn't help it. I started laughing and so did everyone else at the party. Amy came out to see what was so funny and I explained.

"Why did she end up in the tree, Mark?" Amy asked.

"I may have picked her up," he said innocently.

"Picked her up or picked her up like you were gonna power bomb the girl?" Amy asked.

"Power bomb," he mumbled. "But I wasn't actually gonna do it! I just wanted to see what she would do if someone picked her up like that! I didn't know she'd climb the tree!"

We all started laughing some more.

"Come on down, Tay," I called up to her. "Mark won't hurt you. He knows if he tries he'll have to go through me and Amy. And Amy's kicked his ass more than once over the years."

Mark grumbled under his breath. Taylor giggled and started climbing back down to the last branch. When she got down to it, she swung herself around the branch a few times before releasing into a triple twisting layout, landing it with only a slight step. She looked up at Mark.

"Gymnast, not monkey."

"Nice one, Kid!" Mark said, patting her on the back.

"When you gonna start training her, Jeff?" Devon asked.

"Yeah! She'd make an awesome addition to the Knockouts Division in a few years," said Gail. "The girl's got talent."

"I wouldn't mind seeing her join the TNA family as a wrestler someday," Dixie said. "If that's what Taylor wants, that is. Just because her Daddy and her Uncle Matt are wrestlers doesn't mean she's got to become one."

"I don't know. I hadn't thought about it really. I just saw pro wrestling for the first time when I came to live with Jeff. My mom didn't want me to watch it. She was probably afraid of what I'd do if I did. Gymnastics was the most extreme thing I've ever been allowed to do," Taylor said.

"Nobody is trying to rush you into anything, Taylor," Amy said.

"Remember, you find yourself, not my life. If that leads you to wrestling, you have a wrestling family. If not, we're still here for you, aren't we?" I asked my friends.

"Of course, Darling. You're Jeff's little girl. Whether you wrestle or not, you're part of the family now," Dixie said.

"And we could always go hang out and go do crazy things," said Jeremy.

"We'll be here to protect you and be your extended family no matter what from now on, Taylor," Gail Kim said. "We protect our own and their families."

"Thanks guys. Who knows? Maybe I will venture into wrestling. I'm already into so many things that Jeff is already. It might happen, I just don't know," Taylor said.

Taylor's phone started ringing for a text message.

"Do you mind if I check this, Jeff?" she asked me.

"Nah, go ahead," I said and she walked away.

**Taylor's POV**

I walked towards the house and opened my phone. I had told Collin and the few other people that I had considered friends at Union Pines that I was busy and couldn't really be in touch that night. When I opened my phone, I saw that it was Collin.

_Can we talk?_

_Is something wrong?_ I sent back.

It took him a few minutes to answer.

_Addison broke up with me. _

I knew Addison was a bitch and I was pretty sure she did this because of me. She hated that Collin liked to spend time with me, which took away from his time with her.

_Where are you?_ I asked him.

_The football field. She broke up with me right after practice and I haven't been able to get myself to leave._

I didn't hesitate. I'd talk to Jeff after.

_Come over. We have company, but we're out back. I'll tell Jeff you're coming._

_R u sure?_

_Yeah. Come over. You need a friend._

_Thanx. B there soon._

I put my phone back in my pocket and went back outside. It took me a minute to get Jeff alone, but I finally did so I could tell him.

"Collin is coming over," I started.

"I thought we agreed none of the kids from school tonight, Tay," Jeff said.

"We did and I had no intention on breaking that, but he just texted me. Addison, that girl who's been a pain in my ass since my first day of school, broke up with him after football practice tonight. That's why he texted. He was my first real friend here, Jeff, and I'm pretty sure that's why Addison broke up with him."

"Did he know what we were doing tonight?"

"No. He just knew I had a family obligation which was why I had told him and my few other friends I would be out of touch tonight. When he texted I knew he had to be upset if he'd forgotten. I never told them you were essentially holding a TNA barbecue here tonight. But I told him we had company and we were out back. He should be here any minute."

"I guess this is okay. Just next time, talk to me before you invite someone over when I have my co-workers here?"

"I'll try to remember if they're not in crisis mode," I said and Jeff hugged me.

"Is anything going on between you and Collin?"

"We're just friends. I've made it clear to everyone that my priorities right now are my schoolwork and getting to know my family. Everything else can wait. Matt actually encouraged me to give Collin a chance as a friend and it's been nice to have him around."

"Alright. I love you, Taylor."

"I love you too, Jeff."

Collin arrived shortly after and was shocked to find all the wrestlers there. When I explained he was my first friend since coming to live with Jeff, they gave him the same welcome they had to me. They indulged him with pictures and autographs. The night became more fun after that. It was easier for me to relax with Collin around, I was less intimidated by all the wrestlers. Amy came out with a plate of food for Collin and I sat with him while he ate.

"This was your family obligation?"

"Yeah. Jeff wanted me to get to know his co-workers because he's going back to work this weekend starting at a show in Raleigh."

"Seriously?! They didn't announce that!" Collin said, getting excited.

"Yeah, why?"

"I have tickets to the Raleigh show. I was supposed to take Addison, but obviously that's not gonna happen. I was gonna ask your dad if I could take you instead."

"You should invite one of your other friends, Collin."

"He won't let you go?"

"Actually, I'm gonna be there with him and Amy. I'll be backstage. That's why Jeff did this tonight. He wanted me to meet some of his friends before he brought me on the road with him."

"That is so cool. Maybe we'll see each other there?"

"Maybe."

"I wish I had family obligations like this."

"They're kinda nice and intimidating at the same time. Mark, I mean Bully, picked me up like he was gonna power bomb me earlier! I grabbed hold of a tree and got away. They think I should consider following Jeff's footsteps to become a pro wrestler someday. I told them I'd never thought about it."

"It would be awesome. You and Jeff Hardy wrestling together."

"Maybe. We're so alike, maybe that is where my destiny lies. But I just want to piece my life back together before I figure that out."

"So, Sir, Madam, are you a couple?" James asked coming over to us, sitting next to me.

I giggled. It was weird to be called Madam.

"No, James. Collin and I are just friends. He's been my best friend since I got to Cameron. Besides, he's just coming out of a relationship with a cheerleader. He's a jock. Football and track."

"Really?"

"Yeah, three years now. And my girlfriend broke up with me because she was the jealous type," Collin said confirming my suspicions. "So, why is your character so weird?"

"It's what they want from me, so I do it. It means I get to be in the business and that's more important to me right now," James explained, letting Collin drop the subject of dating.

"Collin is gonna be at the Raleigh show. I just found out he had bought tickets. He was gonna invite me, but I'm already going."

"Would you like to come backstage before and after the show?" James asked.

"That would be awesome!"

"I'll get you backstage passes. You can meet more of the roster, forget about the jealous ex for a night," James said as he got up, smiled at us and walked away.

"Your father's friends are way cool, Tay," Collin said to me.

"I'm getting that. I like James. He doesn't intimidate me. Neither does Davey Richards or Jeremy, I mean Eric Young. They're not really big like some wrestlers. And the BroMans are funny."

"Where's Matt?"

"He and Jeff aren't talking right now."

"What happened?"

"Amy and Jeff started dating a few days ago. Matt got pissed off and they got into a fight. Matt actually hit Jeff. He's acting like Jeff's betraying him by dating Amy. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Matt and Amy break up almost a decade ago?"

"Yeah, they did. You're serious? Lita is dating Jeff Hardy?"

"Yeah, and it's about time. They had been giving each other these looks when the other wasn't looking. I'm glad that I didn't keep them apart."

"Why would you?"

"Jeff is so focused on me, I didn't think he'd see something like that if it smacked him in the face."

"So you're happy that your father, who you're just getting to know, is dating already?"

"I like Amy, so yeah. I don't know how I'd feel if it was anyone else, but I'm okay with Amy. She's been with me almost as long as he has. She's helped me in so many ways, ways you don't know."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not ready to tell you everything, but for one thing, she helped me become me in the way I dress. I used to have to dress in dresses, slacks, dress shirts, cardigans, and carry a purse. I hated it. She was the first person to buy me cargo pants and t-shirts. She helped me realize how I like to dress."

"You really were a completely different person in San Antonio, weren't you?"

"Yes, not because I wanted to be, but because I had to be to live up to my family's expectations of me."

"Can I ask you one other personal question? To put a rumor I don't believe to rest in my own head?"

"Go ahead. Only because I want to distract you tonight."

"Were you in the hospital before you came to Cameron?"

I sighed.

"Yes. But not the psych ward like Addison and her friends say. Mama and I were in the car arguing about me getting suspended from gymnastics again when another car jumped the divider and hit us head on. Mama died instantly, but I was in a coma for a few days. I barely got out of the hospital before her funeral. That's why the school couldn't put me into a gym class when I got here. I was still recovering from the crash and was barely getting around on my own. It's why Matt was in the school on my first day. I had all this homework, but I couldn't carry my books home on my own yet. I'm just about done with physical therapy, so maybe next semester they'll put me into a gym class, but since I was an elite gymnast for years, they were happy to give me experience credit."

"Are you gonna do gymnastics again?"

"No. I told Jeff I never wanna do that again. I never wanted to do it to begin with, but it was the most Mama would let me do. I wanted to do Junior Dragster Racing. She said it was for boys. Obviously she's never heard of the Enders sisters."

"You've been into extreme stuff all your life and your mom tried to make you prim and proper?"

"Pretty much. I rebelled with my paintings and by skateboarding, which she didn't know about, but she was massively controlling of everything I did."

"You had a hard relationship with her?"

"But I loved her. And I miss her," I said as I started to cry, talking about my mom with someone other than family for the first time.

Collin hugged me and I let him. All of a sudden, Jessie, Robbie E, and DJ Z were in front of us, mocking our relationship and saying Collin's kissing made me cry. We got up and chased them. It made both of us laugh and distracted us both from the internal pain.

**Jeff's POV**

Taylor, Amy and I got to Raleigh and went to dinner before heading to the arena. Taylor ate half her food so both Amy and I told her we were proud of her as we left to go to the arena. When we got there, the fans weren't there yet, but the other wrestlers were starting to filter in. As I went to my dressing room to get changed and paint my face, Amy took Taylor to introduce her to some of the wrestlers who weren't at the party.

Half an hour later, Taylor and Amy came into my dressing room. Amy had Taylor stand with me and take a picture with me in full make-up. I was proud to have her at my side. Then there was a knock at the door.

"Jeff, is this a bad time?" Jeremy Borash, one of the announcers asked.

"Nah, JB. What's up?"

"Well, this is kinda last second, but we have a Make-A-Wish visitor in the arena today. He's down the hall, but he'd really love to meet you. I told him I'd need to talk to you first because tonight is your first night back and we didn't get to clear it with you."

"You know I'll do it. Just tell me about him."

"Well, he's fifteen, from Texas, and was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer last month. He's here with his older sister who is his legal guardian. Their parents died when she turned nineteen two years ago and she took him in."

I pulled Taylor closer to me. She looked like her world might cave in. Amy came and put her hand on her shoulder.

"Bring them in, JB. It would be an honor to meet them."

JB left the room and a minute later he came in with the Make-A-Wish kid. Taylor started crying.

"Taylor?" he asked as he came into the room. "What are you doing here?"

"Nick, I'm so sorry that you're so sick! I had no idea!" Taylor exclaimed as she ran to the sick boy and hugged him before turning to his sister and hugging her too. "Grace, I'm sorry that I haven't been in touch."

"Taylor, would you mind introducing us?" I asked.

She sniffled and nodded, letting Grace go.

"Nicholas and Grace Alvarez, I would like to introduce you to Jeff Hardy and Amy Dumas. Jeff, Nick and I were in the same classes since kindergarten. I had no idea he was sick," she said, trying to choke back tears.

"It's an honor to meet old friends of Taylor's, especially a friend as brave as you, Nick," I said.

"Taylor, what are you doing here?" Nick asked again.

"Nick, Jeff Hardy is my father."

"You're not serious, are you?"

She nodded.

"You knew he was my favorite wrestler of all-time! Why didn't you tell me?"

"I just found out after Mama died and then we moved to Cameron and everything's just been craziness," she said as she hugged Nick again.

"I'm sorry about your Mama. I didn't get a chance to come see you at the funeral."

"I'm sorry you're sick. I wish I could help."

"I've accepted it."

"So, would you like a picture with Jeff Hardy?" JB asked.

"Can Lita and Taylor be in it, too?" Nick asked.

"That's up to them," JB replied.

"Of course," Amy said.

"Anything for you, Nick," Taylor said.

We took some pictures and then Nick spent some time getting to know me. Amy stayed by Taylor's side the whole time. I took Nick to the merchandise stand with Grace and got him some of my merchandise, a program, and autographed some of the merchandise. I brought them around to some of the other wrestlers who also took pictures with them and signed his program, before bringing them back to my dressing room, where I found Taylor crying on Collin's shoulder with Amy watching on helplessly.

"Taylor?" I said, letting her know we were back.

She wiped her tears and pulled away from Collin.

"Jeff, James got Collin and Mika backstage passes. I forgot to tell you the other night. Mika, this is my father, Jeff Hardy," She said.

I nodded at Collin and Mika.

"Collin, Mika, I'd like you to meet Grace and Nick, two of my longest and best friends from San Antonio. Grace, Nick, Collin was my first friend in Cameron and I met Mika through him not long after."

"Nice to meet you," Grace said.

"What's up?" Nick asked.

"What brings you two here all the way from San Antonio?" Mika asked.

Taylor started crying again. I explained why Grace and Nick were there as Nick went over to try to comfort her. Collin smacked Mika in the back of his head and I appreciated the boy a bit more as he glared at his friend for being so insensitive.

Taylor finally stopped crying and it was time for Grace, Nick, Collin, and Mika to go take their seats. Taylor and Amy had decided they would stay backstage until my match and then they had ringside seats for the match. After the event was over, Grace, Nick, Collin, and Mika would all be allowed to come backstage with us again.

**Taylor's POV**

"How do you do this?" I asked Jeff when my friends left.

"What do mean?"

"The Make-A-Wish stuff. How do you put on a happy face for sick kids who want to meet you as their last wish before they die?"

"It's an honor to be someone's wish, Taylor. I'm sorry this time it was someone you were close to and that you didn't know he was sick, but doing this puts smiles on the faces of these kids. And a lot of times it gives them something to fight for."

"I can't believe Nick is dying," I said as I tried to fight off another wave of tears. "He seemed fine a few months ago. We were out boarding just a few months ago like nothing was wrong."

Jeff got up and held me. I pushed him away.

"I don't want to cry on your ring gear," I said to him when I saw his hurt face.

"Sometimes things like this come on really fast and progress even faster. You heard JB. He was diagnosed with stage four cancer a month ago. He may not have been feeling sick until after you were gone," Amy said, hugging me.

Too soon, a stagehand came and told Jeff his match was next. Amy and I left for our seats, which security escorted us to. When Jeff came out I recognized his theme music as "Reptilian" off of his Similar Creatures album. The crowd went nuts. He went over to Nick and Grace, giving Nick the ripped up t-shirt that he had in his back pocket. He came over to Amy and kissed her before giving me a hug. Then he got into the ring to face his opponent, a wrestler named Magnus.

Magnus seemed to be a brawler. Jeff slid under him, and hit him with the Twist of Fate, then ran up the ring post and performed a Swanton Bomb on him. Magnus kicked out at two and started pummeling Jeff. Jeff did a reverse mule kick on him before hitting him with Whisper in the Wind. The match went back and forth like that until Rockstar Spud came out interrupted the match. Jeff used the distraction to roll Magnus up for the three count. Then, while Magnus and Spud were arguing outside the ring, Jeff climbed up onto the ropes and performed a Swanton Bomb on both of them.

When Jeff got back up, he brought Nick into the ring to celebrate with him. He even gave him the shirt off his back and his armbands. Looking at that, I thought to myself even if Nick was dying he would never forget tonight or my father. For the first time, as I was facing one of the hardest moments of my life, I was looking at Jeff as Dad instead of Jeff because of what he was doing for my dying friend.

**A/N: I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed this fic so far: **

**CelticPrincessx3, Kenn. Faith. Dawn (sorry about the spacing, the page wouldn't post your name otherwise), TabbyoftheSun, & Kitkat1488**

**I hope you continue to enjoy the fic. **

**Also, I would like to apologize on the delay again. I spent three days last week at TNA in NYC so I had no time to write. On the plus side, I've met a bunch of the TNA wrestlers now!**


	16. Chapter Fifteen: Hardships

**Chapter Fifteen: Hardships**

**Jeff's POV:**

Things got harder for Taylor after she found out about Nick. No matter what Amy and I did, we couldn't get her to eat for the rest of the weekend. She tried to put on a brave face, but you could see the anguish in her eyes. We got home late on Sunday and instead of wanting to go to bed, she asked if she could go for a walk on her own. I was nervous about letting her go, knowing her body had to be getting weak at this point, but I could see she needed time away from Amy and me.

"Just keep your cell phone with you. Will you be leaving the Compound?" I asked before she left.

"No, I'm staying on the Compound. I just need time to think. Seeing you work was awesome, but finding out about Nick, especially the way I did was a lot to take in."

"I get it. I love you, Taylor. Call if you want me to come get you from anywhere on the Compound."

She hugged me.

"I love you too, Dad," she said and hurried out the door.

I was in shock. It was the first time she'd called me Dad since we'd met. I looked at Amy.

"Did she really just call me Dad?" I asked her.

Amy came and hugged me.

"Yes, she did."

"I can't believe it."

"Why not? You've been great with her," Amy reassured me and kissed me.

"I'm worried about her. What if we can't get her to eat in another day or two?"

"We'll have to take her to the hospital. She can't go that long without eating, Jeff."

"That's what I'm worried about. But how can I force her to eat when I know this time she's not eating because she just found out her friend is dying?"

"She still needs to eat."

"You're right. I'm just worried about upsetting her."

"She's strong."

"I hope she's strong enough."

**Taylor's POV**

I didn't really know where I was going when I left Dad's house. I just knew I needed to get away from him and Amy. They didn't upset me, I just didn't need to think about what I found out about Nick. I had texted him before we came back to Cameron and found out he was resting comfortably back in San Antonio. He said that getting his wish in Raleigh was better than he could have expected because he got to meet the wrestlers of TNA, see Jeff Hardy specifically, meet Lita, and see me for what may have been our last chance to meet. It was too much to think that soon my world would no longer have him in it.

Somehow, I wound up in front of Matt's house. I hadn't spoken to him since I found out about him hitting Dad. I was mad at him and since I didn't know what to do with everything else I was feeling, I decided to take it out on him. Matt was in his living room when I came in and he got up when he saw me.

"Taylor, are you okay? It's kinda late for you to be out, isn't it?" he asked before I punched him in the mouth.

"How do you like being punched?!" I yelled at him.

"What's wrong with you Taylor?" he asked me confused.

"You hit my father, because Amy makes him happy! He makes Amy happy too! And you're trying to stand in their way because of a relationship that failed when I was in kindergarten! He's your baby brother! You should want to protect him and make sure he's happy, but you attack him over a girl that you haven't been involved with in nearly a decade?" I yelled at him as I swung at him. "What kind of selfish asshole are you? Life sucks and shit happens in the blink of an eye that can take him away from you forever and you want to fight over a girl that makes him as happy as he makes her?!"

Matt grabbed me before I could hit him again. He held me against him, cradling me with my back to him, holding my arms at my side as I screamed and cried. With me not eating in over 48 hours, it didn't take long for me to fully collapse into him with no energy, bringing both of us to his living room floor. He continued to hold me, stroking my hair.

"What happened, Baby? Did something happen with your father this weekend?" Matt asked.

"Dad's fine," I said between sobs.

"Then what's got you so worked up?"

"He had a Make-A-Wish he was asked to grant on Friday in Raleigh. The kid was one of my oldest friends from San Antonio. He was fine when I left to move to Cameron, now he has stage four lung cancer!" I sobbed into his chest.

"Oh, Darling, I'm so sorry! That has to be so hard for you, especially right now."

"And you're a jerk because all Nick has in this world is his older sister for the last two years. Now, Grace is getting ready to say good-bye to him. And here you are letting something as petty as a girl get between you and Dad. How stupid do you have to be to see that you and Amy didn't work out and it's been over for a long time so maybe you should try to be happy that her and Dad have found happiness with each other now?"

Matt kept stroking my hair. I was sure he didn't know what to do with me. It didn't take long for me to pass out in his arms on his living room floor.

**Jeff's POV**

Taylor had been gone a little over an hour when my phone started to ring. I looked at the caller ID. It was Matt. I let it go to voicemail. When he left the voicemail I checked it.

"Jeff, I don't blame you for ignoring my call, but I need you and Amy to come over to my place tonight when you get this. Taylor is here and she's not okay. Right now she's asleep, but I think we need to talk. Just come over when you get this."

I hung up on my voicemail and explained what Matt said. Amy and I put our shoes on, grabbed jackets, and with my car keys in hand, started making our way to the BCR. Matt was waiting for us on the front steps when we got there.

"What happened with Taylor?" I asked.

"She attacked me," Matt answered.

Amy and I looked at each other. Taylor had never shown any violent tendencies towards anyone before.

"Where is she?" Amy asked.

"Her room upstairs. She passed out in my arms on the living room floor and I put her in her bed before I called you."

"What the hell happened that made her attack you?" I asked my brother, getting ready to attack him myself.

"She was upset when she got here. I asked her what was wrong and she punched me, bringing up our fight. When she went to punch me again, I restrained her and she just kept screaming and crying before telling me I was a selfish asshole for how I'm handling you two and how she just found out one of her friends is dying."

"I knew she wasn't okay," I mumbled to Amy.

"She needed space. You couldn't have known she'd come attack Matt," Amy replied.

"She's not dealing with it. She said he was healthy before the accident," I told Matt.

"I know. That's why she says I'm an idiot. She told me that all Nick has is his older sister and she's about to lose him. She told me I'm an older brother and I should love and protect you no matter what."

"And what do you think?" I asked him cautiously.

"I think she's right and I owe both of you an apology. Jeff, I had no right to attack you. I'm sorry. You're my baby brother and I've looked out for you for so long. I shouldn't turn my back on you for any reason. Amy, I shouldn't be trying to claim you as mine. We didn't work out as lovers, but we finally became very close friends. I hope I didn't destroy that."

I went over to my brother and hugged him. Amy followed suit.

"We can work this out if you can stop being an asshole," Amy said to him.

I laughed. Amy never minced her words with either of us.

"I'll do my best. I'm really sorry, guys. If you two are happy, then I should be happy for you," Matt said.

"I am happy with her. I'm sorry it hurt you, Matt, but it came out of nowhere. She's amazing and beautiful, and funny, and talented," I said.

"I know. I was a fool to lose her," Matt said. "I hope you two work out better than we did."

Right then, I knew Matt was gonna try to back off of us.

"Should we leave her here for the night?" Amy asked me.

"She's fine. She wore herself out screaming, crying, and struggling against me. She's gonna sleep through the night. Let her stay here. I'll either bring her home or to school depending on how she's doing in the morning. Either way, I'll give you a call, Jeff," Matt said to me.

"Are you sure? Because she throws a decent punch. Your face is bruising already," I said to him.

"I'm not afraid of my fifteen year old niece, even if she can throw a good punch. Go home. I'll keep her for the night," Matt said.

"Do me one favor in the morning, bro?"

"What is it?" Matt asked.

"Try to get her to eat? Amy and I have been really worried about her. She hasn't eaten since before the show on Friday night. We've barely been able to get her to drink water. Every time we tried to get her to eat she said she wanted to get some rest or do her homework. I didn't know what to do. Maybe since you weren't there when she found out about her friend she might eat for you?"

"I'll do my best to get her to eat something. But that explains why she collapsed from exhaustion so fast. Don't worry. I'll take care of Tay. Go home. I'll give you a call in the morning."

"Thanks, Matt," Amy said, as she kissed him on the cheek.

"Thanks, man. I'll talk to you in the morning."

We left Taylor at Matt's but it still felt weird not to have her at home with me. Even though she had the option, she'd never actually spent the night at either Dad or Matt's houses before.

**Taylor's POV**

I woke up and realized I wasn't in my room at Dad's house. Quietly I got up and left the room and realized I was in Uncle Matt's house. That's when I realized what had happened the night before. Quickly, I took a shower in the basement bathroom so I wouldn't wake him up and changed into new clothes. I wrote a note to him and left the house.

It was only like five in the morning. I took out my phone and checked facebook. Dad's friend Shannon Moore was still up, so I called him.

"Hello?" he asked into the phone, confused. I had never called him before and had only met him twice.

"Hi Shannon. This is Taylor, Jeff's daughter. I was wondering if maybe you could pick me up and bring me to your shop? I don't want to go home and I don't know what else to do right now."

"Where are you, Taylor?" he asked, slightly concerned.

"Halfway between Matt and his father's house. I don't think Matt's gonna want me around and I don't want face Dad right now either."

"I'll be there soon. Just stay out of sight."

"Thank you so much, Shannon."

"See you soon."

I waited in the shadows for Shannon. It took him about twenty minutes to get to me. I got into his truck and he just looked at me with a mix of worry and confusion. I didn't blame him. I'd never turned to him for help before. He started to drive before he started asking questions.

"They don't know you left, do they?"

"No. I woke up in my room at Matt's house and thought I should be gone before he woke up. I just didn't think I could face Dad or Amy yet."

"What happened?"

"I kinda beat up Uncle Matt last night."

He started laughing.

"What?"

"I was upset and I was still mad that he had hit Dad over Dad kissing Amy so when my walk brought me outside his house last night I went in and took it out on him."

"I'm never gonna let him live that down. Beat up by his fifteen year old niece that's a third of his size! Priceless," he said before taking a glance at me. "What had you so upset though?" 

I explained everything about Nick. I started crying again.

"That's harsh, Taylor. You've already been through some rough times. And he sounds like the kind of kid I'd have hung out with too. It's a shame this is happening to him. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Can I hide out with you for the day? I don't want Dad and Amy down my back and I really think Uncle Matt's gonna be pissed off at me."

"Sure, but two conditions."

"What?" I asked, trying not to groan.

"I'm gonna let your dad know you need time but your safe with me so he doesn't try to tear Cameron apart looking for you. And two, you have to eat while you're with me today. I know you don't eat a lot, but I don't want what's going on with your friend to make you stop all together. Do we have a deal?"

I wanted to say no. I didn't want to eat. But I didn't want to go home more. If me eating something was the only way to make that happen and make Shannon happy, I had no choice.

"I'll try to eat, but fine."

"Then we have a deal. What do you wanna do today?"

"I thought I would just hang out with you in your tattoo shop if that's okay with you?"

"I don't mind, but my first appointment isn't until almost 2. We have a lot of time to kill until then. We could go get breakfast and think about it."

"Alright, but I really don't eat a lot in general, Shannon, even when I'm not upset. Just so you know."

"Neither did your mother."

"What do you mean?"

"Your father fought to stop your mother from being an anorexic. He told me about it after she left with you. He was scared she would do something to hurt herself while she was still pregnant. No offense, when I saw how skinny you are, I figured you picked up your mother's lack of eating habits."

"Dad didn't tell you?"

"He didn't have to tell me you weren't eating. It's noticeable. Not so much anymore. It's obvious him and Amy have you eating, but when you first got here, yeah, I could tell that you and Tammy had the same eating habits."

"I thought I hid it well."

"I've worked with female wrestlers who are always trying to stay in shape and lose weight. I've seen my share of anorexics in my career."

"It wasn't just Mama and Grandpa. I was a gymnast, so I had to keep my weight down if I wanted to get the right height on my aerials."

"Well, you don't have to do that anymore."

"No. I hated all of that anymore. It's just who I always have to be. It's weird that now I get to be whoever I want to be and Dad won't get mad at me."

"Well take a look at him. Does he seem the kind of guy to hide who he is?"

I laughed.

"Not really."

"So is there anything I can do that might make you feel better?"

"Maybe."

**Jeff's POV**

It was almost dinnertime. Shannon said he'd bring Taylor home by then. I was getting worried. Amy was in the living room pacing. I was actually cooking to try to distract myself. Taylor had just left Matt's house, turned off her cell phone and skipped school. Granted she'd gone to Shannon and agreed to let him call us to let us know where she was, but I wasn't sure how to handle the situation.

Finally, I heard a car pulling up and saw the headlights of Shannon's car. When the two of them got out they were laughing. It was good to hear Taylor laugh after everything she'd been through this weekend, but I noticed she was walking stiffly. They walked into the house and one look from Amy stopped the laughter dead. Before Amy could say anything, I spoke up.

"What's wrong with your leg, Taylor?"

"Nothing. It's just stiff."

I looked from her to Shannon.

"What did the two of you do all day, Shannon?"

"We hung out at the shop. I even let her give me a tattoo."

"What?!" Amy exclaimed.

"Look," Shannon said pulling up his shirt. He had a fresh tattoo of a dragon. I had to admit it looked good.

"What else did you do?" I asked.

The two of them shared a look and Taylor pulled up her pants leg. There was a fresh tattoo of a skateboard with a viper on it. Nick's name was on it. She'd gotten a tattoo without talking to me. I didn't know what to say. I wanted to yell at Taylor, I wanted to Twist of Fate Shannon. Amy looked like she was debating whether or not to hit him with a Litacanrana. She went to go at him and I stepped in between them.

"Maybe you should go, Shannon. Thanks for taking care of Taylor today," I told him.

He looked offended that I was kicking him out after he took care of her all day. Still, he just shrugged and turned to leave. Taylor looked upset that we were making him go. I almost reconsidered just because of that.

"Just so you know, Taylor's eaten three times today. If she doesn't want to eat dinner, don't worry so much," Shannon said as he walked out the door before I could say anything to him.

I just stared at the door in complete shock. Shannon had messed up by tattooing my underaged daughter without even calling me. I wouldn't have necessarily said no, I'd done it myself when I was a teenager. But at the same time, he'd gotten her to smile, laugh, and eat, something neither Amy nor myself had been able to do in days. I looked at Amy and she had the same look of shock on her face.

"Why did you have to be a jerk to Shannon? He was so nice today and even picked me up in the middle of the night?!" Taylor snapped at us.

"Taylor, don't talk to your father like that," Amy said.

"Leave me alone! At least Shannon treated me like I wasn't fragile today! You're always trying to hold my hand while I eat and protect me. Shannon was real with me, he didn't sugarcoat anything. And just because he did something to help me deal with Nick you kick him out of here?! I thought you wanted me to deal with it?!"

"You got a tattoo!" Amy exclaimed.

"You _both_ have tattoos."

"We're adults."

"Really? You wanna play that card? Do you mean to tell me that neither of you got a tattoo or did anything you weren't supposed to because you were underage?"

Amy went quiet and I couldn't say anything either.

"I didn't think so. You're both hypocrites!"

"Hey," I said finally finding my voice. "I didn't say anything about the tattoo. I wish you'd at least talked to me, but you didn't. You also didn't talk to me or Matt before you disappeared in the middle of the night or decided you were gonna ditch school for the day. I'm glad that Shannon made you feel better and I can deal with the tattoo, I need some time to get used to it, but I got a tattoo without telling my dad, so I shouldn't be surprised you did it to me. But Taylor, I've been worrying about you for days. You haven't been eating, you've barely been speaking, you've been crying, then you went and attacked Matt last night. Then all of a sudden you disappear. I can let most of that go as you coping with Nick, but not disappearing. You can't just decide to disappear and not go to school without my permission. I'm sorry, but you're grounded for two weeks."

The color drained out of Taylor's face. She lost her look of anger and one of confusion and shock took its place.

"For the next two weeks you will go to school, physical therapy, and come home. No motocross, no friends coming over and no going out."

"What?" she asked in utter shock.

"I've let you do what you've wanted, but I'm not going to let you blow off school. Everything else you've done in the last few days I know is connected to Nick, but I will not allow you to blow off school. You're grounded."

Taylor turned around and ran up to her room. I heard the door slam and her radio went on. I turned to Amy.

"Was I too harsh?"

"What would Gil have done if you pulled what she did today?"

"Kicked my ass, grounded me for life, and made me work the fields for weeks on end."

"She got off easy," Amy said laughing as she hugged me. "We should eat."

"You go ahead and eat. I'm gonna go call Matt and let him know she's home safe. He was really upset that he lost her this morning."

"Will you join me after?"

"Maybe. I need to call and apologize to Shannon, too."

Amy kissed me and went to the kitchen. I went to my room and dialed Matt.

"Is she home?" he asked panicked as soon as he picked up the phone.

"Yeah. She's here and she's pissed off, locked herself in her room."

"Why?"

"I grounded her."

"Because of last night?"

"No. Because she ditched school to have Shannon give her a tattoo."

"He tattooed her?"

"Yeah. And let her tattoo him."

"I'm gonna kill him."

"No. He got her to laugh and eat today. I can let the tattoo go, she's grounded for ditching school."

"I wasn't sure she'd ever be able to do something that would make you ground her."

"I was hoping I'd never have to, but she can't skip school. So for the next two weeks, no motocross, no friends over, no going out, school and physical therapy only."

"You're starting to sound as much like a dad as a friend to her. Good for you, Jeff."

"It was hard to do."

"I'm sure. But you had to let her know she couldn't do this."

"Thanks for the reassurances. I just wanted to let you know she was home safe."

"Thanks. I'm sorry she got out without me realizing it this morning."

"It's okay. We both know you sleep like a rock sometimes. I gotta go. I need to call Shannon and apologize to him."

"Alright. Let me know if I can do anything."

"Sure. Later, Matt."

I hung up on Matt and dialed Shannon. He picked up on the second ring.

"If you're calling to yell at me, I don't wanna hear it, Jeff."

"I'm calling to apologize, Shannon. You did what I couldn't for Taylor and I want to thank you. I was shocked that you went behind my back and tattooed her without calling me first, but I can get over that. I was more pissed off at her for ditching school, not at you. But you got her to smile and laugh, and hell, you got her to eat for the first time since Friday afternoon. I haven't been able to get her to do any of that since she found out about Nick, so thank you. Seriously, man. I'm not mad at you. I just needed a chance to get over the shock. I'm still getting used to this father thing. And now she's pissed I grounded her for the first time ever because she skipped school."

"Ouch. How long?"

"Two weeks. No motocross, no friends here or outside. School and physical therapy only."

"That's not too bad. You let her off easy."

"Try telling her that. She locked herself in her room as soon as I did it."

"I'll try talking to her."

"Thanks man."

"She's a pretty cool kid. When I saw the way she was watching me do tattoos I thought she'd like to try to do one like you do. She's good with the gun. And she took that tattoo on her leg pretty good. No crying."

"Thank you for everything, Shannon. And I'm sorry about what happened when you brought her home. I just didn't expect you to bring her home tattooed. I should have known better," I said laughing.

"Yeah, you should've," Shannon said laughing, and I knew we'd be okay.

"Do you wanna come over for dinner on Wednesday? I'll order take-out?"

"Sure. Sounds good. I gotta go, I've got a client coming in in ten minutes that I gotta prep for."

"Gotcha. You do what you gotta do. I'll see you Wednesday night."

"Later man."

Shannon hung up and I sat on my bed, wondering where mine and Taylor's relationship would go from here.


	17. Chapter Sixteen: Collin's Crash Course

**Chapter Sixteen: Collin's Crash Course**

**Jeff's POV:**

The next two weeks were hard between me and Taylor. When I was home she barely spoke to me. It wasn't easy for me and a few times I almost caved and let her off her grounding. I felt like a hypocrite in some ways. Matt and I were off doing crazy things during high school, but Dad knew what we were up to when we did and he would have skinned us alive if we skipped school like she did. He was telling me I was being too soft on her. Matt told me that I was doing the right thing, and considering we were still walking on eggshells around each other because of Amy, it was nice to have him backing me up. Still, Amy and I had our hands full.

It wasn't an easy decision for me, but I decided to go see Andrea at the school. Maybe she was right the first day I brought Taylor in for school. It might not be a bad idea to at least consider outside help with her. As much as my family tried to help Taylor, we were barely more than strangers to her, having only known her for a few months.

"So, Jeff, you decided to come back in?" Andrea said as she led me into her office.

"Look, I'm sorry about the way I acted last time I was here. I didn't like you telling me how to raise Taylor. She's a smart kid and I think she should have a say in what's going on in her life. Until she came to live with me, she had no say in her life, so I was really pissed off that you were trying to act like I'm stupid because I left that choice to her. She knew more about where she was in school than I did, I wasn't prepared to make that choice, she was. I knew what I was doing, Andrea, whether you understood that or not," I explained.

She looked at me and her face softened.

"I'm sorry. So many parents, especially parents who are new parents to teens with issues like Taylor don't typically know what to do with them. But you've never been conventional, so I shouldn't have taken your approach for incompetence, but just your way of dealing with it. You're right, and I'm sorry," she said to me.

"Thank you. I really appreciate that."

"So what can I do for you?"

"Well, I'm sure you were told that Taylor cut school last Monday."

"Yes, I was. I tried to talk to her last week, but she said she didn't want to talk about it, that it wouldn't happen again and she was already grounded so to leave her alone. Honestly, I was surprised by her disrespect, but moreso her saying you grounded her."

"I may not be a perfect father. I'm still learning how to handle her and I don't give her a lot of rules, but that's because I feel that as long as she's honest with me, there's no need to try to restrict her with rules. That's not who I am. If she's keeping up with school, staying safe, and being honest, there's no need we can't be friends as much as we are father/daughter in my opinion."

"But teenagers do need some rules, Jeff. You know that, right?"

"I do, but I hadn't really thought of any specifics I needed to outright tell her. Up until last week, if I asked her to do something she did it. If I asked her a question, she was honest with me. But the Friday night before she cut school I went back to work. I took her with me for the weekend because the shows were all here in North Carolina and we made a deal, she could travel with me on the weekends as long as her schoolwork was done by the time we got home on Sundays."

"Something happened when you went back to work, I guess?"

"Something really bad, Andrea."

"Tell me."

"Well, before I explain that, I want you to know that I didn't just bring her on the road with a bunch of strange wrestlers she'd never met. The Wednesday before I went back to work, I invited a bunch of my co-workers over for a barbecue. She was kinda shy at first, but after Collin Deveraux texted saying he was upset she had him come over and with him there she opened up more. She seemed to have fun around everyone."

"It's good you tried to bring them into familiar surrounding for her before you brought her to them in unfamiliar territory. It's even better Collin ended up there. Collin and Taylor have become good friends. It's a bit of a scandal around here. She's the antithesis of the jocks and cheerleaders and yet she's quickly become one of his best friends."

"I noticed. I was upset at first that he texted because Taylor and I agreed none of her friends because of my co-workers, but he was in a bad way. Apparently his girlfriend broke up with him that night. Him coming over seemed to be a good thing for both of them," I agreed before going back to that night with Nick. "When I went back to work, right after I finished getting ready, I was asked if I would meet with a Make-A-Wish kid. The kid has stage four lung cancer. Of course, I agreed, but as the kid was described, Taylor seemed to be trying to melt into me. When the kid was brought into my dressing room she freaked out completely."

"Why?"

"He's been one of her best friends in Texas for years. He was diagnosed about a month or so ago. Taylor didn't know. They lost touch after Tamara's death."

"Oh my goodness. No wonder she's acting out."

"Exactly. Thankfully, Collin was in Raleigh for the event and Rockstar Spud had given him and his friend Mika backstage passes so Taylor had Collin that night, too, but the weekend got worse."

"What do you mean?"

I took a deep breath. I felt like I was betraying Taylor telling Andrea everything.

"What do you remember about Tammy?"

"What do you mean?"

"Her eating habits."

"What eating?"

"Taylor inherited her mother's diversion to eating, Andrea. Amy and I have been getting her to eat, and she's been doing really well. She's been keeping a food journal and even though she doesn't eat a lot, she's been eating a little more every day. At least until I grounded her. She's still eating, just not as much and she's not keeping the food journal right now."

"That's both alarming and good. At least you and Amy are dealing with the situation."

"Well, after she found out about her friend, she refused to eat for the weekend. When we got home on Sunday, she went over to Matt's house and attacked him because Matt and I had been fighting about Amy. We started dating and Matt was pissed off. She passed out from exhaustion when Matt restrained her to keep her from hitting him and after Matt apologized to me and Amy we decided it would be best to just let her sleep in her room at Matt's for the night."

"So what happened?"

"She got up and left before Matt did. Ran off with Shannon for the day."

"He shouldn't have…"

"Don't, Andrea. You and Shannon may have your issues, and I may have been mad at him for helping her ditch school and even for giving her a tattoo…"

"He did what!"

"After she tattooed him."

"He's insane!"

"That's why you loved him once."

She shut up.

"Regardless, I was mad at him too, but I couldn't stay mad at him for more than a few minutes."

"Why not? I have it in me to go have some words with him over this."

"Because when Taylor came home that night with him, she was smiling and laughing, which she hadn't done since she found out about her friend."

"That's not a good enough reason to excuse his behavior, Jeff."

"What about the fact that he saved me from having to put her in the hospital to get her to eat?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know how he did it, but Shannon got Taylor to eat not once but _three _times while she was with him that day. She hadn't eaten in more than two days by the time she ran off with him. Amy and I had already decided if we couldn't get her to eat on Monday we would take her to the hospital, but he got her to eat _three _times, Andrea. Shannon got through to her in ways nobody had been able to that weekend."

"I guess that would be a reason not to kill him," she conceded. "So what can I do to help?"

"I'm not sure I want to do this yet, but I wanted to know if you could help me find some therapists she might be able to see. In case it gets to that point where I think she needs someone to talk to."

"Sure. I know this is hard for you to ask for."

"Thanks, Andrea," I said as the bell rang. "I gotta get outta here. If I'm seen in this school who knows what will happen with Taylor."

"Well, it's a good thing you still dress like the kids here, you can pull your hood up and blend in on your way out. I'll be in touch when I have the info for you."

"Thanks again, Andrea," I said as I got up and snuck out of Union Pines.

**Taylor's POV**

"You don't get it Collin. He's been all like just be honest with me since the day I met him and I was honest with him last Monday and I'm _still_ grounded for another week."

"You got off easy, Tay. Be honest. Any other parent would've kicked your ass for skipping school and getting a tattoo. Jeff just grounded you for skipping school, not even the tattoo."

I sighed. Collin was right, but it didn't make me any less mad.

"Maybe you're right, but complete lockdown?"

"Tay, you beat on your uncle, snuck out of his house in the middle of the night, skipped school, and came home tattooed. Two weeks is nothing," Collin said, laughing. "Besides, it's almost over."

"It can't be over soon enough."

"Hey, at least Shannon's been going over to see you."

"Yeah. That's cool. Shannon's really crazy. I still can't believe he let me tattoo him."

"You have an awesome life, Taylor. Stop fighting it. Bad things have happened. I'm not saying your life is perfect. I know your life has been hard. But your father loves you, anyone who looks at him when he looks at you can see he would do anything for you. You are his number one priority. Embrace the Hardys. They are notoriously crazy and awesome."

I looked at Collin, the boy who was comforting me even though his girlfriend left him because of me two weeks ago. He had been comforting me almost that whole time. Suddenly I felt selfish.

"I'm sorry, Collin. How are you feeling? You've been so busy taking care of me since everything with Nick that I haven't asked how you've been handling things since the break-up."

"Nick is a bigger issue than my petty ex-girlfriend. I don't mind being here for you," he said. "I'm okay. Being here for you has given me something other than her to focus on, so helping you has helped me, too."

"You're too nice for a football player."

"Must be the track runner in me."

We both laughed.

"I'm going to the vending machine. Want something?"

"No, I'm good."

"Taylor, you haven't eaten lunch."

He was right. I had stopped eating lunch since I got grounded. I also stopped eating breakfast, opting to take the school bus in to school instead of letting anyone drive me to school.

"Did you at least eat breakfast?"

I shook my head. I didn't want to lie to Collin. Not with how much he'd done for me. He grabbed my hand and dragged me to the cafeteria. After getting a second lunch for himself and a tray for me, he led me out to the tree we usually hung out by.

"Eat, Taylor."

I looked at the food. It was a lot of food. He loaded the lunch tray with pizza oozing grease, salad drenched in dressing, chocolate cake, and brownies. With it, he got me a soda. The thought of it made me queasy, but I didn't want to disappoint him. I broke off the edge of the pizza and started nibbling it.

"Come on, Taylor, eat."

"I am eating, Collin."

"Barely."

"Barely is still doing it."

"You can eat more than that. It's just you and me here."

Suddenly I started thinking about the other kids watching me. I started looking around, feeling like they were all watching what I was doing. I put the little bit of food I had in my hand down, grabbed my backpack and ran. Unfortunately, Collin was faster. He caught me pretty fast and dragged me under the bleachers where nobody would see us.

"What was that, Taylor?"

"I couldn't eat all of that. I'm sorry."

He looked at me, confused.

"What's wrong with you?"

I laughed. "Loaded question."

"I'm serious, Tay. It's just lunch. Why'd you try to run away from me?"

"You wouldn't get it."

"Get what?" he asked frustrated with me. "What's so hard about eating?"

"I'm anorexic!" I yelled at him in frustration, turning away from him and trying to run again.

I got slightly farther this time. It was a little bit of a relief to say those words. I had never said them before, but I was terrified to face Collin, like he would treat me like a porcelain doll now. He caught up to me and held me close to him. I cried into his chest, realizing my mother made me like this and my father was trying to help me but I was reverting back to her ways. It made me feel like a screw-up. I tried to pull away from Collin, but he wouldn't let me.

"You're not pushing me away," as he held me close.

In the distance I heard the bell ring. We were both supposed to be in Trig in a few minutes.

"We need to go to class."

"Not with you like this."

"My dad will flip out if I skip class again."

"Let's go."

Collin took me and led me away from the school. I didn't want to fight him, but at the same time I was afraid of making Dad madder. Still, I followed Collin.

**Jeff's POV**

The doorbell rang ten minutes after I got back from the school. I looked out the living room window and saw a car I thought might be Collin's and went to the front door. Sure enough, he was there, with Taylor cradled in his arms, asleep.

"Mr. Hardy, sir, I'm sorry, but I made Taylor skip her last couple of classes to bring her home," Collin said to me.

I took Taylor from him.

"Come in. We'll talk after I put her in her room."

Collin went towards the living room as I put Taylor in her bed. She felt warm and I was worried she might be sick. I covered her and left her door open in case she woke up and needed anything before going back downstairs to Collin.

"Knowing why Taylor is grounded, why would you make her cut class, Collin?" I asked.

"I was worried about her."

"What happened?" I asked, getting more worried about her.

Collin started ringing his hands. He looked nervous.

"What happened, Collin?" I asked again.

"She kinda freaked out when I tried to get her to eat lunch. I wasn't trying to upset her Mr. Hardy, honest, but I noticed she's stopped eating lunch since you grounded her so I called her on it and asked her if she ate breakfast and she told me she hadn't. So I tried to get her to eat lunch. She started to act weird and ran off. When I caught her she freaked out and told me she was anorexic and started crying and trying to push me away. That's why I made her cut school. I didn't want anyone to see her freaking out like that. They already spread rumors about why she was in the hospital before she came to Cameron and I was worried about her and wanted to take care of her so I thought the best thing to do would be to bring her home. She tried to argue with me, but I don't think she had the energy to do it," he rambled.

I knew she wasn't eating breakfast, but was hoping she was at least eating lunch at school. She had stopped using the food journal since I grounded her. This poor kid was just trying to get a friend to eat lunch and got so much more than he bargained for. He looked scared out of his mind.

"Do you want a drink or something, Collin? We need to talk," I asked him.

"Sure."

"Sit down. This might take a bit. And while you're at it, you might want to let your parents know where you are. Tell them I'll call them later if it will help."

"Thanks, Mr. Hardy."

"Call me Jeff."

I went to the kitchen and came back with a couple of sodas for us. I gave one to Collin and sat down across from him.

"Did she say anything else to you other than she's anorexic, Collin?"

"No. She started freaking out. First she kinda curled into me then she tried to pull away and run again. I wouldn't let her. I kept hold of her and seeing how upset she was I knew she couldn't go to her last classes so I brought her home. She was worried you'd be mad she skipped, but it's not really skipping if you go home to your parents, is it?"

"Not really. I'm not mad. I think you did the right thing, bringing her home. Taylor can be fragile emotionally sometimes. Not all of the time. Sometimes she's tough as nails and can be as hard as diamonds, but there are some things that she's not as tough with."

"I've seen it. She's handled everything about moving pretty good. I was surprised that me trying to get her to eat was what made her flip out," Collin said taking a drink of his soda. "Was it the gymnastics that did this to her?"

I took a deep breath and started explaining the complications of Taylor's anorexia to Collin. I explained it wasn't just the gymnastics, but her mother and grandfather, and how I had tried to help her mother when I was his age. It was a lot to put on his shoulders and it wasn't anything I would have ever told him, but Taylor threw this at him and he needed to know what he was dealing with. I would deal with her if she got mad at me for telling him everything later.

**Taylor's POV**

When I woke up, the sun was setting and I was a little confused. Last thing I remembered I was in Collin's car… On my way home. Shit! Dad was gonna be so pissed I missed my last two classes. As I was trying to think of how to explain this to him, I heard laughing coming from downstairs, not just Dad and Amy, but a few other voices. After going to the bathroom to brush my teeth, wash my face and brush my hair, I went downstairs because curiosity got the best of me. I wasn't expecting what I saw.

Sitting in the living room with Dad and Amy were Uncle Matt, who I had avoided since I had hit him and snuck out, Mr. Deveraux and Collin. Knowing I wasn't supposed to have company I tried to go back upstairs before anyone saw me.

"Come on down, Taylor," Dad called to me. "We need to talk to you."

I walked into the living room and sat next on one of the recliners. Collin had a photo album in his lap and was looking at me with a guilty look on his face. I wasn't sure what to think about what was about to happen.

"Hi, Mr. Deveraux," I started, "Collin."

"Taylor, I'm sorry. I didn't know," Collin said before Dad started talking.

"Taylor, do you remember what happened earlier today?" Dad asked me.

I nodded, not sure what to say to him, but looking at my hands instead of him.

"Collin and I had a long talk while you were asleep. He's really worried about you, Taylor. You scared him at school today. He didn't understand what he did wrong…" Dad was saying when I cut him off, looking at Collin.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Collin. I did. I'm all messed up and it's not your fault. It's not any of your faults. It's me. Don't think you did anything wrong, Collin. You have no idea what made me like this…" I was saying when Dad cut me off.

"Actually, he does. After you and Collin left school early you fell asleep in the car. I put you to bed before talking to Collin to find out why you weren't in school again. When he told me what happened and what you told him, I told him everything about it. He needed to know what was going on and this boy here was so desperate to figure out what he did when _he _didn't do anything."

"You told him?"

"Yes. If you want to be angry, go ahead, but since you started to bring him into what we tried to keep in the family, I felt he deserved to know the truth."

I didn't know what to say to him. Part of me was mad, but part of me was relieved. Now I didn't have to be the one to explain all of this to Collin and he would understand why I act so weird sometimes.

"No. I'm not mad. I guess it's better."

"We decided to let Collin stay for dinner tonight because he was so worried and he wanted to make sure you were okay," said Amy speaking up for the first time. "Your father called his father over so he could talk to him about Collin skipping _his_ last classes to bring you home. It turns out that Grant, Jeff, and Matt used to play little league together. That's why we invited Matt over. Besides, it's time for you to stop avoiding your uncle, Taylor."

"Darling, I'm not mad at you. You're going through a hard time and I understand that. I remember when our mother was dying. I lashed out at everyone for a while. I'm not saying it's okay to do it, but I get it. Don't push me away. Right now you need your family," Matt said. "Besides, apparently I needed to get beat up by my niece to see what an asshole I was being to my brother. You were right about that. Your father, Amy and I made up after I put you to bed that night. Thank you for making me see how stupid I was. I need to be reminded sometimes."

Matt started laughing and I couldn't help but crack a smile at him.

"Come here and give me a hug, Sweetheart," he said to me and I did.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Matt," I said as I hugged Matt.

"Shhh, Taylor. Don't apologize," Matt said. "But next time, how 'bout I just teach you some moves in the ring? 'Cause you throw a decent punch."

I started laughing and so did everyone else. At that moment, the bell rang. Amy got up and answered the door.

"Anyone order pizza?" I heard as Shannon came in.

"Shannon!" I exclaimed as I ran over to him.

Amy took the pizzas from him. He hugged me.

"Hey, Kid. Heard you had a bad day."

I just nodded into his chest.

"It's alright. Pick yourself up and move on. It'll get better tomorrow," Shannon said to me.

Amy put the pizzas on the table in the living room and brought paper plates, napkins, plastic cups, and sodas from the kitchen. Everyone started digging in. I looked at the pizza and wanted to run away, but everyone was watching me expectantly.

"Please, Taylor?" Collin said to me. "You haven't eaten in a day."

"Come on, Kid," Shannon said, putting a slice on a plate and giving it to me. "Eat it or I'm gonna sit on you until you do."

I started laughing and took the plate from him. Slowly, I started picking at it. I ultimately ate almost the whole slice before I couldn't eat anymore. When I got up to go to the bathroom not long after Collin got nervous.

"Collin relax," I said to him. "I'm not bulimic. I'm not gonna go throw up. Promise."

Mr. Deveraux hugged Collin to him, but Collin still looked nervous.

"It's okay, Collin. She's not gonna do that," Amy said, trying to make him feel better. "She'll either eat or she won't, but if she eats, she doesn't force herself to get sick."

Collin looked a little better and I relaxed a little bit. I realized then the affect I was having on him. Collin was now worrying about me the way I was worried about Nick. The difference was that Nick had no control over what was happening to him. I was doing this to myself, worrying everyone who cared about me. I felt guilty all over again, but knew I had to try to start eating more again if, for no other reason, than to keep Collin from having to worry about me like that.


	18. Chapter 17: Sweet Sixteen Slammiversary

**Chapter Seventeen: Sweet Sixteen Slammiversary**

**Jeff's POV:**

We got through the rest of the school year without major incidents. Taylor's birthday was in June, not long before Slammiversary. As part of her birthday gift, I had made surprise arrangements for her for Slammiversary in addition to the party and gifts she would get before we left for the event.

"Taylor, come on! Your party starts in half an hour and you should be at Matt's house before your guests!" I called up to her.

We were doing a traditional Sweet Sixteen party for Taylor with the girls in dresses and guys in suits because Amy and Taylor told me it was something that you just didn't not do. I didn't get the big deal. It was a party. When I told them that, they told me I would think that because I was a guy, but for a girl, a sixteenth birthday was always special.

"I'll be down in a minute, Dad! I'm fixing my hair!" she called back down.

It was weird for me to hear my daughter say that to me. She had asked me to help her dye her hair multiple shades of pink the week before and typically wore her hair in either braids or ponytails like me at this point. Still, I was distracted by the sight of Amy coming out of what was now our room, wearing a red kimono-style dress, similar to the one she'd worn when she'd been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

"Wow," was all I could get out.

"You don't look so bad yourself, Handsome," she said as she came over and kissed me.

I was wearing a light grey suit. My hair was pulled back, purple this week, which matched my tie. I pulled Amy to me and held her. My mind still couldn't believe that we were together. I just held her in my arms, savoring every moment, knowing how lucky I was to have her and Taylor with me. Suddenly Taylor cleared her throat and I looked up. My breath caught.

I hadn't seen her dress. Amy and Taylor had gone shopping in Raleigh for her dress. It was a beautiful white dress with soft pink flowers. Taylor's hair was done in spirals. Taylor was never little around me, but she'd always be my little girl, and right now she didn't seem like my little girl anymore.

"What's wrong, Dad?" she asked me.

I started breathing and found my voice.

"Nothing, Darling. You look beautiful."

"Then why were you just staring at me?" she asked me self-consciously.

"Because you look so grown up. It's not a bad thing. You look beautiful."

"Come on you two. I want a picture of you before we go," Amy said as she grabbed the camera off the table.

I walked over to Taylor and hugged her. I couldn't believe how fast time was flying, how quickly she was growing up in front of me. Amy snapped the picture and the three of us left, getting to Matt's house fifteen minutes before the party was supposed to start.

Dad and Matt had similar reactions to Taylor. Amy took pictures of Taylor with Dad, then Matt, then all of us, the whole Hardy clan. It was surreal. When she was done, I got some pictures of Taylor and Amy, loving the way the two of them got along. I was so lucky that Taylor loved Amy as much as I did.

Not long after, the guests started to arrive, some of them were my co-workers from TNA and others were Taylor's few friends from school. The girl at the party seemed like a completely different person than the one who had first come to Cameron six months before. She almost seemed happy. I could see it in her from time to time that she missed Tammy dearly, and I did too, but I think she was happy with me.

**Taylor's POV**

The party started and it was fun having the TNA wrestlers there with my friends from school. I hadn't told my friends from school and since only Mika and Collin had met any of them, they all freaked out that they not only got to hang out at the BCR, but they got to meet a bunch of TNA wrestlers for my birthday. It was a lot of fun, which I felt a little guilty for.

Mama would never have let me have a party like this. If I had still been with her my Sweet Sixteen probably would have been a bunch of her uptight co-workers at some overpriced dining hall with me miserable for the night. Still, I couldn't help but miss my mother. I sat down at one of the tables away from everyone and it was Rich, aka Davey Richards, who came over to talk to me.

"What's the matter, Taylor?" he asked me.

"Just feeling guilty right now, Rich."

"Why?"

"I'm having such a good time, here with all of you, living with Dad. It makes me feel guilty."

"But why, Taylor?"

"Because the only reason I get to do this is because my mother is dead. If she was alive, my birthday party would probably be about her co-workers. Mama didn't actually know any of my real friends in San Antonio. She wouldn't have approved of any of them. So I kinda feel guilty because I'm having such a good time and it's at the expense of her life," I said struggling not to cry, afraid of what Jamie, aka Velvet Sky, would do if she saw my make-up smear.

"You can't look at it like that. What happened to your mother was a tragic _accident_ Taylor. It wasn't your fault. And yes, your life is different now, but that's okay. It's okay to enjoy it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Come on, dance with me."

I took his hand and he led me out to dance. He made me feel better. Maybe he was right. It's not like I was the one who was driving the car that smashed into us and killed my mother. Maybe it was okay to be happy with Dad. Mama's problems with him weren't mine. Mark, aka Bully Ray, came and cut in not long before the song ended.

"So, Monkey, you look beautiful tonight. Not gonna climb a tree if I try to hug you, are you?"

I laughed. Mark and Devon had called me Monkey ever since the first night I'd met them. I shook my head no and he hugged me. He made me feel like a dwarf, but his hugs were safe to me. As crazy as his character and even he was, I knew that Mark would do anything for me.

"You stayed on the ground!" he exclaimed, before pulling up the hem of my dress. "No fair! You're in heels! You couldn't climb a tree if you wanted to!"

"You're a dufus, you know that, don't you?"

"But it made you laugh," he said as he hugged me again, laughing. "Happy Birthday, Monkey."

Mark gave me a kiss on the cheek and walked away because Collin had come over.

"What was that all about?" Collin asked.

"Mark thinking the only reason I'm not climbing trees to get away from him being the heels I'm wearing."

"Climbing trees to get away from him?"

"Remember what I told you the first night you met all of these guys?" I asked Collin as I led him to the tables where the drinks were to get a soda. "When he picked me up and I climbed the tree to get away?"

"Right. Now I know what you're talking about," he replied. "You really have made some weird friends at your Dad's job."

"Yeah. Some of the guys are great. I don't mind them."

"Why didn't you tell me they'd be here?"

"Why didn't you think they would be? Did you really think Dad, Amy, Uncle Matt, Shannon, and Greg would be cool just hanging out with a bunch of teenagers all night? Besides, I don't really have that many friends if you don't count the friends I've made because of Dad's job. They're part of a new weird family to me, I guess, but they're my friends, too, Collin."

He looked at me for a minute, before changing the subject.

"You look great tonight, Tay."

"Thanks. So do you."

"Not like you. Besides, tonight is about you."

"I think Dad is in shock about that."

"Why?"

"When I came out of my room earlier after getting ready he just stared at me. It took him a minute to say anything."

"Well, this is shocking, Taylor. You don't dress like this. _Ever_."

"I guess."

"Have you eaten?"

"Not yet. Too nervous. It's making my stomach knot. I'm hoping to have my stomach settle down and then I'm gonna try to eat."

"Okay."

We got up and went to some of our friends. Collin didn't push eating. He wasn't like that. An hour later, Dad came and grabbed me with Uncle Matt, Grandpa, Amy, and Shannon.

**Jeff's POV**

"Taylor, can we see you for a minute?" I asked her.

"Sure, Dad," she said, before turning to her friends. "Guys, I'll be back. Go eat or dance or something."

She followed me, Dad, Amy, Matt, and Shannon to the house. We walked around to the front of the house.

"What's up, guys?" she asked.

"We wanted to give you one of your presents," Amy said.

"And you didn't want anyone else to see?" Taylor asked.

"It's complicated. We couldn't bring it to the back," Matt said.

"Why not?"

I handed her a small gift box. She looked at me weird.

"Open it," I said, as Shannon nodded at me and slipped away.

Taylor opened the box and saw what was inside, keys.

"What are these for?" she asked, confused.

"This!" Shannon exclaimed as he drove up in a brand new Edge.

"Wait. What?"

"Happy Birthday, Sweetheart," Dad said as he hugged her.

Shannon got out of the car and came back over to us, giving me the second set of keys.

"Happy Birthday, Kid!" he said as he gave her a hug and picked her up. "Now we can teach you how to drive yourself around."

"Thank you, everyone," Taylor said, but I wasn't sure if she was happy or not.

She gave everyone a hug and a kiss. I asked everyone to give me and her a minute alone so I could talk to her.

"Taylor, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, Dad," she said, but wouldn't stop looking at the car.

"Taylor, please don't lie to me."

"Nothing's wrong. Really. The car is beautiful," she said, finally looking at me. "I'm just scared of it."

"Why, Baby?" I asked as I pulled her to me.

"What if what happened to Mama happens to me, Dad?"

We hadn't thought about it. When we had talked about getting Taylor a big birthday gift, we all agreed that a sixteen year old, especially in a town like Cameron, would want their own car. It was a symbol of freedom. None of us had thought about the accident that put her in Cameron affecting her wanting to drive.

"Taylor, I'm sorry. I didn't think about that. You don't have to keep it if you don't want to," I said. "I just thought that you'd like to have your own car to get around now that you can start driving. I'm really sorry."

"Don't be," she said, snuggling into me. "I didn't think about it until I saw the car and Shannon said it was mine. I've been in cars and I was fine."

"Do you want me to get rid of it?"

"No. It might take me time, but fear is a four letter word that _doesn't _belong in my vocabulary. I need to get over this. I just need to take it slow. Is it okay if I don't use it much for a while?"

"That's fine. We'll teach you at your pace, Tay," I said as I kissed the top of her head.

"Hold on to these for me? I don't have pockets in my dress and having them in my hand make me nervous anyway," she said, handing me the keys.

"Sure, Baby," I said as I took them. "We should get back to the party."

Taylor nodded at me and we went back to the party. When we got to the back, Amy told me that she had talked to Michael, aka DJ Z, about putting on a slow song for me and Taylor to dance. I glared at her and she laughed at me as she pushed us towards the dance floor.

"Listen up, everyone! Here we have our gracious host, Jeffrey! Nero! Hardy!" Michael exclaimed into the mic from his DJ station. "And with him, give it up for our birthday girl, the beautiful Taylor Hardy!"

I looked in shock at Michael and he nodded to Taylor. I looked down at my daughter.

"I forged your signature to correct my birth certificate and name documents," she said to me. "I'll always be my mother's daughter, but I'm also a Hardy, and those seem to be the dominant genes in my life, Dad. It seemed to fit."

I didn't know whether to be angry or ecstatic. Instead, I hugged her close to me.

"Give it up for the father and daughter's first dance together ever!" Michael exclaimed as a slow song started blaring from the speakers.

I took her hands in mine and we slowly danced around the dance floor.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to surprise you," she replied. "Uncle Matt and Grandpa knew. They helped me get hold of your license and other things you've signed to do the paperwork. We didn't have to go to court because it was an error on the birth certificate, not a name change, so we got it done without you knowing."

"You still forged my signature."

"I know. But I just wanted to surprise you. I wanted to see the look on your face when I could tell you it was already done. Now, even my name shows that I'm your daughter."

I pulled her closer to me as we danced. I felt tears at the corners of my eyes. I kissed the top of her head.

"I love you. But if you do that, I'll lock you in your room and throw away the key," I said to her.

We both started laughing.

"I won't. I promise, Dad."

We finished our dance and Taylor went back to her friends. I went back to Matt and Dad. Dad put his hands up in surrender.

"Talk to your brother. It was his idea to help her," he said as he walked away.

"Matthew Moore Hardy," I said as I went over to Matt. "Why in hell would you think it's okay to encourage my daughter to forge legal documents?"

He shrugged.

"She wanted to surprise you. It seemed like a good idea at the time," he said. "Besides, look at how happy you were when she told you she took your name, Jeff. It's worth whatever hell you wanna give me. She's part of the family and she's got a right to the name."

I shook my head. There was no point arguing with him. Amy came over and hugged me.

"Don't be so upset. We were careful to make sure the signatures looked authentic. She really wanted to surprise you, Jeff," she said to me before kissing me.

My head started to get light from happiness. My daughter took my name. Amy was still mine and we were all happy together. I couldn't help but be happy in the moment.

**Taylor's POV**

The phone rang in the hotel room. Slammiversary was tomorrow and we'd been in Fort Worth for a few days getting ready. It was early and the phone ringing actually woke me up. Knowing I wouldn't get back to bed, I went to start getting ready for the day. A few minutes later, there was a knock on the hotel room door.

"Taylor, can you get the door? I'm trying to brush your father's hair!" Amy called to me from their room in the suite.

"Sure, Amy," I called back, pulling one of Dad's hoodies over my tank top as I walked to the door.

I opened the door and nearly screamed. Standing on the other side of the door were Nick and Grace. I jumped into Nick's arms, nearly knocking him over.

"What are you doing here?!" I exclaimed, as I pulled them into the hotel room.

"Your dad and Amy brought us for Slammiversary as his guests," Grace said.

"He's really cool, Taylor. He tried to get us to North Carolina for your birthday party, but I couldn't do it. I was sick. I'm sorry," Nick said.

I nearly cried.

"Don't be sorry, Nick. Seeing you now is so much better than anything I could ever imagine," I said to him.

"Happy Birthday, Taylor," Nick said, handing me a large box.

"Come sit down with me, guys," I said leading them into the living room area.

I sat down and opened the box. Inside the box I found a brand new skateboard, and a hoodie designed for me. I looked at the signature of the designer. It was Dad.

"How?" I asked Nick.

"I knew you love boarding and that you've changed a lot since moving, so your board should reflect that. I've been talking to your dad since he's been trying to get us to North Carolina and he helped me come up with the perfect design for your new board and for the hoodie. I bought the board and everything, and he took care of the rest," Nick explained.

I looked at the skateboard again. It had a viper on it, just like the tattoo I had, which I had sent Nick a picture of. I hugged him.

"I love it. Thank you, Nick."

At this point, Dad and Amy came out of their room. I got up and hugged them and gave Dad a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you, Dad. For everything."

"We're not done," Amy said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"What she means, is that I'm not the only one here in Fort Worth, Taylor," Nick said.

"What?"

"Jeff called me and asked me for a list of your friends. Sara, Melanie, Dean, Kevin, Joshua, Sammy, Tristan, Caleb, Ashlynn, and Lisbeth are all here, too," Grace said.

I just turned and stared at Dad. Asides from Nick, those ten were my closest friends in the world when I was growing up in Texas. A few of them were at Mama's funeral.

"I couldn't get them to Cameron for your party, but that doesn't mean I couldn't make arrangements with their parents to bring them to Fort Worth for the weekend to celebrate with you. They're all coming to Slammiversary, too. But Nick and Grace have backstage passes. They all have VIP tickets, so they get a special meet and greet before the show, but I can't have that many people backstage at an event. Sorry," Dad said as I jumped into his arms.

"Thank you, Dad!"

"Go get dressed. We leave in an hour for breakfast with all of them," he said to me before looking at Nick and Grace. "Come on, I checked in your room last night. It's ready for you, so you can rest while she gets ready."

Dad took Nick and Grace, leading them out of the room. I looked back at the skateboard which was now on the couch. I went back to it, picking it back up.

"Do you like it?" Amy asked me.

"It's amazing. I can't believe you guys are doing all of this."

"Why not? Jeff wants to know your friends, in Cameron _and _San Antonio. They're all a part of you, Taylor. He loves you," she said, holding out her hand for me. "Come on, let's get you ready."

I took her hand and she led me to my room.

**Jeff's POV**

Holding a second Sweet Sixteen without Taylor knowing about it was hard work. It was easier for my friends from work to be here, because we all had to be in Fort Worth for Slammiversary anyway. So, the night before Slammiversary, we had a second party, with Michael as DJ so Taylor's friends could meet Taylor's wrestling family and she could see her friends from San Antonio.

The second party was very lively, and we surprised her by flying in Dad, Uncle Matt, and Shannon from home and Michael Hickenbottom from San Antonio. The hall was packed with TNA wrestlers and a dozen of Taylor's closest friends and their families. She was even livelier than she was at her party in Cameron, which made the whole thing worth it to me.

"You did good with her," Michael said coming to sit with me. "She seems really happy, Jeff."

"We've had some rough patches, Michael. She's had some issues we've had to work through. When I had to ground her, it was tough. I thought I was gonna cave and let her off."

"Did you?"

"No. She was grounded because she ran off in the middle of the night, blew off school, and came home with a tattoo from Shannon. She got off easy, but I grounded her because of the school part. The rest is all stuff I would have done and she wasn't off where I didn't know, she was with Shannon and he told us early that morning. My problem was she had no right to skip school."

"No, she didn't."

"She's going through a hard time. Dealing with her mom's death, then she found out one of the kids here is dying. It's why she did what she did, but I wasn't going to let her schoolwork slip. I told her to express herself, be honest with me and we could work through things, but when I did, I hadn't thought about her skipping school."

"How did she find out about her friend?"

"He was a Make-A-Wish kid my first night back at TNA. It set her back so badly, Michael. She stopped eating and everything. Went two days without food. Amy and me had already decided if we couldn't get her to eat by the time Shannon brought her home we'd take her to the hospital, but he told her he'd gotten her to eat _three times_ that day. The two of them got really close that day. When she was grounded he was the only friend she was allowed to see outside of school. He'd come over to the house."

"At least she had that."

"I feel lost with her."

"You're doing a good job, Jeff. Don't doubt yourself. Six months ago you came to me a broken man, worried your little girl would die. Now here she is, healthy, beautiful, and she looks happy. I think you're doing something right, even if you're not sure."

"I don't know what I'd do without Amy. Taylor loves her so much."

"Things are serious between the two of you?"

"We've been together for three months. Taylor pushed the two of us together. Called us on stolen looks. But we're happy. And Taylor is happy for us. Life is good. I'm just scared I'm gonna mess it up like I've messed so many things up before. I already messed something major up with Taylor."

"What do you mean?"

I explained the situation with the car. Michael just looked at me with sympathy.

"You were excited to give her what you thought ever sixteen year old would want. Don't beat yourself up so badly. She seems okay."

"Thanks, Michael."

Michael patted my shoulder and got up. I saw him cross the room to Taylor. After speaking to her briefly, I saw him lead her to the dance floor. She danced with him, laughing at whatever conversation he had with her.

**Taylor's POV**

Michael Hickenbottom is a spaz on the dance floor, but he's funny. My friends were jealous that I was hanging out with the wrestlers because so many of them had been huge wrestling fans when we were growing up and here I was, the only one of the group who had never been allowed to watch, dancing with Shawn Michaels. My second party was just as fun as my first, just in a different way than the party in Cameron.

Ashlynn and Sara were flirting with The BroMans. Melanie and Lisbeth were asking EY for pointers on different moves. Tristan and Caleb were asking Bully and Devon about TLC matches. Dean and Sammy were following The Beautiful People around, flirting with them. Josh and Kevin were asking The Wolves about breaking into wrestling. Nick and Grace were just hanging out with Magnus and Mickie James, who was pregnant, talking.

"So, Madam," James, aka Rockstar Spud said sitting next to me, "how are you enjoying your _second_ Sweet Sixteen?"

"I'm still in shock, Spud."

"Good or bad?"

"Good. I didn't think I'd see my San Antonio friends again and here they are. My old life and my new life blending perfectly."

"Jeff will be very happy to hear this."

"I can't thank Dad enough."

"I don't think he wants you to thank him, Taylor. I just think he wants you to be happy and healthy. If this will make you happy, he'll do it for you."

"He didn't have to throw me a second party, but I appreciate it. He's already done so much for me."

"He loves you. You know that, don't you, Luv?"

"I'm understanding how much more every day."

"Come now, let's go see Master Carter and Madam Dixie. They were looking for you earlier."

I paled a little. EC3, Michael (another one in TNA, I know), and I had a cordial relationship, but he was loud and crazy in a weird way. I still didn't know what to make of him, even after three months of travelling with Dad. Spud noticed.

"No worries, Luv. They wanted to see you since they missed your last party. You'll be fine."

Michael and Dixie weren't actually related and I knew it, but even out of character, they acted as if they were. Spud led me over to them and held a seat out for me at their table before sitting next to me. Dixie and Michael looked at me.

"Are you enjoying your party, Darlin'?" Dixie asked.

"Yes, Ma'am. I'm in shock that Dad did this. I wasn't expecting it."

"He loves you, Darlin', and would do anything for you, even walk away from wrestling if you wanted him to."

"I wouldn't want him to. He's so happy wrestling. It's part of him."

"That's good to know. So how was your other party?"

"A lot of fun, Ma'am. Dad was shocked when he found out that I legally took the Hardy name, dropping Mama's name. Technically, legally anyway," I said smiling at Spud.

"What do you mean?" Michael said speaking up.

"I kinda forged his signature on the paperwork so I could surprise him."

"You're a lot like the New Yorkers," he said laughing.

"No, she's not, Master Carter. She's not quite as vulgar and disturbed," Spud said sticking up for me and we all started laughing, making me relax around Michael for the first time.

"So, Spud said the two of you wanted to speak to me?"

"Yeah, we did," Michael said.

"How would you like a summer job, Darlin'?" Dixie asked me.

"What do you mean, Ma'am?"

"Well, Christy is taking on new responsibilities in the company, plus, with her storyline with Samuel Shaw, she can't always be at ringside. So, how would _you _like to be our part time ring announcer?" Dixie replied.

"Seriously?"

"Why not? You're on the road with your father when you're not in school anyway. You're part of the TNA family. Why not make it official?" Dixie said. "We can start you tomorrow at Slammiversary. You can announce the Anderson/Storm match if you're okay with it."

"It's an amazing offer, Ms. Carter, but my dad…"

"I've talked to him, Darlin'. I'd be a fool to drop this on a sixteen year old girl without talking to her Daddy. He said if you want to do it, he'd support you. Besides, I've been watching you. We all have. We've noticed you've been showing an interest in the business, Darlin'."

I hadn't told Dad _that_ yet. But she was right. I had talked to Gail, Mark, Devon, James, Rich, Eddie, Jeremy, Ken, and Jamie about it. They had all shown me small things, but said if I wanted to know more, Dad had to know first.

"I'd love to," I said at last.

"Fantastic, Darlin'. We'll work out all the details after Slammiversary, but he'll bring you in to Christy early enough in the morning to prep you to announce the match."

"Thank you so much, Ms. Carter," I said.

"Welcome to the family, Darlin'," she said as she got up and hugged me. "Oh, I nearly forgot, here you go. Happy Birthday, Taylor."

She handed me a box and a card. The box held a beautiful dress with matching shoes and jewelry, things that I wouldn't have many chances to wear.

"Thank you. They're beautiful, Ms. Carter, but…"

"For your first night on the job, Taylor. You have to look fabulous," she said as she hugged me again and walked away.

I turned and looked back at Michael. He had a box in front of him, too. Spud moved the box from Dixie and Michael slid his box over to me. I opened it and found a gym bag and everything I would need to start working out again. I looked at him.

"Tell your father already, Taylor. And gain another fifteen pounds. A bunch of us talked about you wanting to get involved. If you can get your weight up to at least 110 and your father's support, we'll start slowly teaching you while you travel with us. This is everything you'll need if you do it. The clothes won't fit you until you hit 110, so you have to get your weight up, but remember, muscle weighs more than fat, so you don't have to worry about becoming fat to meet the weight goal we want from you."

"I had no idea you knew so much about me, Michael."

"Master Carter may have kept his distance, but he likes to know what's going on around here," Spud said.

"Thank you. I'll try with the weight, but…" I took a deep breath, trying to find the words to tell him. "I'm a recovering anorexic. Putting on weight is hard for me."

"I figured. That's why I pointed out that muscle weighs more than fat, Taylor," he replied and I just stared at him with my jaw dropped. "I've been a wrestler for a while. It's not uncommon for girls to want to keep their weight down. You were really underweight even three months after you moved in with Jeff. But just so you know, you look a lot better with the weight you've gained. You look more alive. It suits you."

I still didn't know what to say so I just nodded. Michael started laughing before he got up and kissed my cheek and left.

**Jeff's POV**

"Taylor, wake up," I said shaking her.

She groaned at me. I shook her again and she swatted me.

"Hey! You agreed to this job!" I exclaimed.

She stirred and glared at me. I laughed at her. I wasn't always nice in the morning either when I didn't sleep much. She got up and in the shower. I called room service for breakfast. When she got out we ate together before I got in the shower. By the time I got out, Amy was up, helping her pack what she would need for the arena. I knew she'd go right back to bed when we left, she was meeting us at the arena with the others later.

"Will I always have to be up this early?" Taylor asked me.

"No. But since this is a last minute change of plans, you need to get used to the role you're gonna play. You'll be meeting with Christy and Jeremy while I get in a workout."

"Okay," she said, yawning. "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"If I wanted to start training to wrestle, would you let your friends train me?"

"Why are you asking?"

"I think I want to. I've talked to some of them. They've shown me small things, holds mostly, but they won't do anything else unless you know and you're okay with it. That and EC3 told me last night they want me to get my weight up to 110 before they do it."

"Is it something you're really interested in?"

"I think so. It looks like so much fun."

"Then I have no problem with it."

"Even if when I graduate next year I decide not to go to college full-time?"

"Wait. What?"

"I was thinking that after graduation I could go to college part-time and maybe train or even start wrestling the rest of the time if you were okay with it."

"I need to think about that. We have a few months before you apply, so we'll talk about that another day. To start, if you gain the weight, I have no problem with them training you as long as all of you are careful. You're a natural athlete."

"Thanks, Dad."

She yawned again and fell asleep. I let her sleep until we reached the arena.

**Taylor's POV**

Slammiversary was so surreal. It was so much bigger than the normal shows. Christy and Jeremy Borash showed me around to hair and make-up early in the day so I could find it on my own later in the day. They spent two hours with me going over what I needed to say and do when I came out in the arena that night, making sure I could walk in the heels both in the ring and out of it, and testing my reflexes in case the match went a little off-script and the wrestlers wound up coming towards me. When they were satisfied, we sat down with Dixie and discussed what she would expect from me. I would be an announcer, and do occasional backstage segments.

Finally, the event was getting ready to start. Dad was dressed in his Willow gimmick for his match against Magnus. I was still in sweats because I didn't have to be ready until almost the last match, so I stayed comfortable for when my friends came to see us. When the event started, I got dressed and ready early so I could go ringside with Christy for Dad's match. It was a double perk for me. I got to be even closer to Dad during his match _and_ I got to be closer to Christy to see her mannerisms and everything so I knew what to do later.

Dad's match was awesome to watch, but it was rough. Bram and Magnus are brutal in-ring competitors and as Willow went after Bram, Magnus attacked, gaining the upper hand. Abyss was out with Willow and kept Bram occupied, ultimately getting him out, but Magnus was still dominating. When Willow did start to turn things around, Magnus knocked him off-balance from the top rope, where he then hit him with his finisher, beating him.

When Dad left the ring, I followed him closely. He ultimately leaned on me and squeezed my shoulder.

"Are you okay, Tay?" he asked me.

"Are you shitting me? You just got a beatin' and you're asking if _I'm_ okay?"

"You were on the outside with Bram and Abyss. You didn't get hit or anything, did you?" he asked as he limped up the ramp with me.

"No, Dad. I'm fine. Really. Are you?"

"Nothing I haven't been through before. I'll be fine. Don't worry."

I laughed. Earl Hebner caught up to us and helped me help Dad to the back. As Dad was being checked out, I had to go get my hair and make-up touched up. When I got back to his dressing room, he was there with Amy, Nick, Grace, and Uncle Matt.

"You good, Dad?"

"I'm fine. All clear. You excited?"

"Nervous, but yeah."

Just then, Ken came to the door.

"Taylor! I've just been told that the lovely Christy isn't going to be announcing our match tonight, but you are. Remember…"

"You announce yourself?"

"Well, yeah, there's that. But, remember that you're a knockout on your own, Kid. You're a special girl, coming from where you did to get where you are. Don't let anyone make you think any less of yourself. Knock 'em dead!" he said as he turned and walked away.

My nerves settled after that.

As everything was being cleaned up from the Texas Death match between EC3 and Bully Ray, Jeremy Borash announced me to the crowd. I made my way back down to the ring, where he helped me up the steps, handing me a mic. I plastered on a smile like Christy told me to.

"What's up Arlington?! Are you ready for more excitement?!"

The crowd went nuts.

"I can't hear you! Are you ready for more excitement?!"

The crowd got even louder. Jeremy gave me the signal that it was time to start the match.

"The following contest is set for one fall. Introducing first, weighing 230 lbs, from Leiper's Fork, Tennessee, The Cowboy, James Storm!"

James Storm's music started, but he had them cut it off, as he entered with a mic. He started insulting the Dallas Cowboys, who were sitting front row, as he walked down the ramp. Anderson, without announcing himself, came rushing out, stole someone's drink, and spit it in Storm's face. The two of them got into a brawl at ringside before the bell. I rushed out of the ring and over to JB.

Anderson dominated the match from the beginning. After a bit, Storm gained breathing room. Instead of ending the match by pinning Anderson, he went to taunt the Dallas Cowboys some more. The Cowboys started trying to break through the barriers to get to Storm. Security had to come in to stop them. George Selvie distracted James Storm and Anderson hit him with the Mic Check for the win. The bell rang, signaling the end of the match.

"And your winner, Mr. Anderson!" I exclaimed, drawing out his name.

The Cowboys broke through the barrier and entered the ring to celebrate with Anderson. He winked at me. I gave JB the mic back and started making my way backstage. Dad was waiting just out of sight at the top of the ramp.

"Are you okay? They didn't say this would be such a crazy match," he said.

"I'm fine. I have quick reflexes, Dad. I got outta the way before I got caught in anything. Besides, JB and Christy told me that I should always pay attention because sometimes the matches get outta hand and end up outside anyway. I was ready just in case."

He hugged me to him.

"You did great tonight, Taylor. Welcome to TNA," he said as he held me.

"Thanks, Dad. I can't wait to learn more," I said excitedly.


	19. Chapter Eighteen

**Chapter Eighteen: Traveling with the Roster**

**Taylor's POV:**

I'd never really been out of Texas until I moved to Cameron. After Slammiversary, TNA went to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania for some tapings. It was there that the tyrannical reign of MVP was ended, as Kurt Angle was put in charge of wrestling operations on the show. On the last night of tapings in Pennsylvania, Kurt Angle called out Willow. Watching it from the back, it was kinda funny, like watching Dad get told he was a bad schoolboy. The way his character reacted to Kurt asking him to take off the mask for the match that night, to face Lashley, Willow looked like he was being yelled at by an angry teacher. Still, at the end of the night, when I went out to call the match, they told me to listen to Dad's music, because that would tell me if he was coming out as Willow or Jeff Hardy.

As he got ready to enter, I listened to the music. I wasn't sure whether or not to expect "Willow's Way" or "Time & Fate," so when "Time & Fate" started I knew he was coming out as Jeff Hardy. He was the last competitor out for the 20 man, over the top rope battle royal. I had to stay out for the whole match to call out eliminations, so I got to see the everything, which was cool since almost the entire locker room was in the match.

By the end of the match the last two competitors in the ring were Dad and Eric Young. Dad was a fan favorite, the enigma they all loved so much. _But_, Eric Young was the one Lashley took the title from. The fans had liked having EY as their champion, especially after the championship reign of Magnus. He was a fighting champion, putting it all on the line for the fans every chance he got. Both men were major risk takers and the fans loved the way the match was coming out. Either way, they'd be happy with the results.

There were a few close calls where both EY and Dad nearly eliminated the other. What it ultimately came down to was EY was on the apron and Dad hit him from the top rope, propelling himself into the middle of the ring as EY hit the floor outside. I announced Dad as the winner. JB went in to talk to Dad and then, as was the usual, Bobby Lashley came out to get in Dad's face since he was the number one contender. Dad didn't back down. He stared him straight in the eye.

Lashley left the ring first when the cameras cut out. Dad got out and went around to the fans for a few minutes. I stayed over by the timekeeper, not really the one to interact with the fans too much outside of the show just yet, and definitely not willing to go into the locker room just yet. Some of the guys were upset that they weren't even considered for the title shot against Lashley. I didn't blame them. I just didn't want to get stuck in the middle. Finally, Dad made his way over to me and we made our way backstage, with his arm around my shoulder.

"Rough match, huh guys?" Amy asked as we walked into the dressing room.

Dad went straight into the other room to change out of his ring attire. I kicked off my heels as soon as I walked into the dressing room and started pulling off jewelry before sitting down next to Amy.

"Yeah. Dad took some pretty rough bumps. I was worried with the way he literally hung out of the ring sideways for part of the match."

"I was fine. Just needed a breather, Sweetie," he called from the other room.

Amy and I started laughing.

"Jeff, you were hanging diagonally with your legs wrapped around the ring post for at least five minutes. You were seeing stars and we both know it," Amy said, still laughing.

Dad came out of the other room in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I got up and started towards the other room to get out of the dress. He sat down to start taking off his face paint.

"You really gotta make me look bad in front of Taylor, Darlin'?" Dad asked and I started laughing louder.

"Dad, I was ten feet away! I saw everything! Amy isn't making you look bad," I said laughing and ran into the other room locking the door behind me just before he reached the door.

"Wait until you come back out, Taylor!" Dad called to me.

I changed out of the white gown they had me in tonight and carefully put it in the garment bag. Unlike Dad, I was asked to wear dress slacks and blouses when I travel with TNA because it made me look older, more professional. I didn't really care. We worked a few days a week. When we had off, I was free to wear whatever I wanted, plus, they hadn't asked me to stop dying my hair the way I had been. So, I didn't complain. I was learning about something I had come to have an interest in, when most people wouldn't have this opportunity at my age. I got changed into a pair of black dress slacks and a pink halter top with a black dragon on it that Amy bought me. I slipped on the flats that I wore when I travelled and went back out to Dad and Amy.

"See, Taylor, I told you that halter top would look great on you!" Amy said as she sat me down to brush out my hair.

"Her back is bare, Amy," Dad said.

"Jeff, it's summer time. She's sixteen," Amy said.

"Don't freak out, Dad. I'm wearing something over this. A sheer white button down. I'm just leaving it open since it's so hot out."

"That's better," he said as he came over and kissed my cheek.

Amy finished brushing my hair and left. Considering she still had ties to the WWE and Dad had left years before to come back to TNA, Dad and Amy decided to do their best to keep their relationship from going public. Dad and I finished packing our stuff up and left. We were going to pick up dinner and meet Amy back in our hotel room before checking out and heading out to New York City. We were going to drive.

When we got outside, there were a bunch of fans hoping to see the different members of the TNA family. Dad took pictures with fans, signed autographs, and made it look so easy. A few people came over to me and it made me nervous, but I tried to handle it with his grace. I smiled and thanked them for noticing me and signed their programs, which was when they had had new programs made and that I was in them. I didn't think know the photo shoot I had done the day after Slammiversary was for the summer tour programs.

In them, I was just listed as Taylor Adams. It made sense to me. Until just a few weeks ago, it was my legal last name and Dad said for TNA it would be better to use that to keep my anonymity. Nobody outside of family and friends knew that I was Jeff Hardy's daughter unless they lived in Cameron.

People asked Dad and I if they could get shots of us together. I thought it was weird.

"It's really nice of you to take a new ring announcer under your wing like this, Jeff," one fan said.

"Well, Taylor and I go back before TNA," Dad said, not giving any information.

"It was nice meeting you both," the fan said before Dad took my bags and I got into his car.

When I looked back at the fan, he was still watching us. It gave me the creeps, but I didn't say anything to Dad. I didn't want to come off as paranoid. We went about our business, getting to the hotel in New York in the early morning hours.

I didn't have to be up until noon. That was when Spud and EC3 were coming to take me for a workout. Amy was going out with Gail to check out dietary things that might help me in the city instead of me refusing to eat because of all the greasy food Mark and Devon had already started threatening to force down my throat. Dad had a few media circuits to run to promote the first tapings in New York City and would be busy until dinner.

It was nine thirty, just after Dad and Amy left, that my cell phone rang. Collin was calling me.

"What's wrong Collin?" I asked.

"Tay, were you working in Pennsylvania last night?"

"Yeah, why?"

"There are pictures all over social media. People trying to figure out who Jeff Hardy's new girlfriend is. With pictures. The girl in the pictures is you. They have pictures of you and him after the match last night with his arm around your shoulders, in the lobby of the hotel, getting into his car. They're saying Taylor Adams , the new announcer of TNA, is Jeff Hardy's new girlfriend."

"Damn it! I gotta call you back tonight, Collin. Dad just left for media appointments to promote the tour. I don't want him blindsided by this on tv or radio in New York City. You know that man never checks his twitter, Instagram or facebook."

"Go. Talk to you later."

I hung up the phone and called Dad.

**Jeff's POV**

Taylor was still sound asleep when Amy and I left the hotel. I was being driven around to promote the tour. We were halfway to my first stop when my phone started ringing. I thought it might be Amy but when I looked at the screen, it was Taylor. I knew something was wrong.

"What are you doing up so early? You were dead to the world ten minutes ago, Darlin'."

"Dad, we have an issue and I don't know how to handle it."

"What is it, Taylor?"

I was looking around and noticed the driver looking at me in the rearview mirror. MVP was in the car with me and handled it.

"Gotta problem, Lurch? Shouldn't you be paying attention to the roads in this forsaken city and not my man's _personal_ phone call? Mind your damn business."

I gave him a grateful look and he just nodded at me.

"Dad, Collin just called me. There's a new story all over the wrestling community on social media and I didn't want you to be blindsided by it in case it comes up when you're doing media."

"What is it, Baby? You're starting to worry my."

"Dad, they're saying you have a new girlfriend. They're trying to figure out information about her…"

"Do they know about me and…"

"No, Dad. They don't think it's Amy. They think it's _me._"

I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity. She wasn't serious. Was she?

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I pulled out my tablet. I'm on twitter right now. There are a ton of people tweeting pictures of you and me together, with your arm wrapped around my shoulders, you carrying my luggage, me getting into your car. They think _I'm _your new girlfriend, Dad."

"Alright, Taylor. Just relax. There's nothing we can do about it right now. Don't say anything to anyone about this. I'll text Matt. He'll get online and start throwing people onto something else. We're not gonna say anything about this. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, Dad."

"We left you a chocolate chip muffin, some fruit, bagels and juices to choose from for breakfast. Eat something, Sweetie. Just take it easy until Michael and James meet you for your workout later, alright?"

"I'll try."

"Don't worry. Matt is good at dealing with things like this without actually saying anything."

"Alright, Dad. Love you."

"Love you too, Darlin'."

I got off the phone and MVP looked at me.

"What's going on?"

"That was Taylor. Apparently, we're all over social media. It's been leaked that she's my girlfriend."

MVP just looked at me and discreetly looked at the driver.

"People seriously need to get lives and let us have our privacy."

I texted Matt.

_Bro. I need a favor. Get on social media. Throw them off me and Taylor w/out saying anything. Dixie's gonna wanna talk to me and her before anything is actually said about this._

A few minutes later, Matt texted back.

_A few days of insane Mattitudes to throw the wrestling universe off your trail? Sounds like fun. Give Taylor a hug for me and I'll call you guys later. _

_Thanks, Matt. _

**Taylor's POV**

I started trying to eat breakfast. It wasn't easy, so I ate a bagel with jam on it and a banana with orange juice. I was halfway through it when there was knocking at the hotel room door.

"So you're dating your father? How scandalous!" exclaimed DJ Z.

"Bite me, Michael. I don't know what to do about this. Dad said not to say anything at all about it and he was gonna have Uncle Matt hit social media to throw everyone off this."

"Finish your breakfast," he said as we sat down at the table together and he grabbed an apple, and tossed me an energy bar.

"What's this for?"

"You're gonna need your energy today. Besides, James called me. He didn't wanna call you in case you were still sleeping. I told him since I was next door to your room I'd come see you. But he's coming to pick you up early for your workout."

"When?"

"Half an hour or so?"

He sat with me as I struggled to finish eating. He didn't say anything about the fact that I had trouble eating on command, which I appreciated, and acted like he wasn't even sitting with me while I ate. Instead, he just talked to me about random stuff.

"So Jesse is going off to TMZ to do work with them while we're here. Robbie and me will probably end up doing something at some point before we leave. Mark, Devon, and Jamie are going to Yankees games. Ken, Gunner and some of the others are going to Mets games. What do you want to do, Tay?"

"I have no idea? I've never been this far north before. Never been to Pennsylvania, never been to New York. So, I have no idea what to do. Just don't let Mark and Devon try to feed me grease?"

He laughed as someone knocked on the door. I was just about to finish my breakfast so he answered the door. I heard Michael with Spud and EC3. They came over to me.

"You're not dressed, Madam!" James exclaimed.

"Sorry, James. I was trying to eat breakfast. Michael here came to tell me you guys were coming early while I was trying to eat. Considering, I thought you would want me to finish my breakfast. Right?"

"You're right," said EC3. "What did you eat?"

"Bagel with jam, orange juice, and I had a banana before Michael got here."

"Impressive," EC3 said. "Z, you should get going. We got her from here. Thanks for keeping an eye on her."

I looked between the three of them.

"Wait, what do you mean, 'keeping an eye on her?' Did Dad ask you guys to baby-sit me?"

"No," James said, defensively. "Honestly, Taylor, he didn't. But we saw what's on social media and we thought since this is all new to you we'd try to stay with you, at least for now. Jeff didn't ask us to. We just wanted to be here for you in case you needed someone to talk."

I relaxed. I knew James wouldn't lie to me.

"Have fun today, Taylor. And remember, don't give them anything to go on," Michael said as he hugged me before leaving.

Then it was just me, the other Michael and James in the hotel room.

"You should get ready to go," Michael said.

I nodded and went into the other room. I grabbed my things, took a quick shower, and got dressed in comfortable clothes that I could workout in. Coming out of the room, Michael had the bag that he'd given me for my birthday.

"Let's go," he said.

When we got to the gym, Michael insisted the first thing we do was weigh me. James knew how uncomfortable the situation made me, so he let me and Michael do this with one of the trainers alone. It had been a week since Slammiversary and his request that for me to start training I gain fifteen pounds. Since then, I had been working out with Dad, Amy, and different members of the roster depending on their schedules. I was eating small meals more often, plus the wrestlers were giving me protein bars, and a few of them tried to get me to try something called Kill Cliff. Dad found out and put a stop to that one pretty quick.

I got on the scale and closed my eyes, standing very still. I could hear the trainer moving the slider on the scale. It seemed to take forever. Finally he stopped and told me I could step down. I got off the scale without looking at it.

"So, Michael, your friend here weighed in at 98 pounds. Are you sure she should be working out?"

"She's fine. We're aware of the risks, but her diet and exercise are being watched."

"Alright. Let's go."

"We'll be right out," Michael said as he turned to me. "I'm proud of you."

"Why?"

"You got on that scale and you've shown you're serious about what I said to you last week. You've already put on a little weight. That's good."

"I don't wanna get fat, Michael."

"You won't get fat, Tay. I promise. Like I said, the weight makes you look healthier," he said as he gave me a hug and led me out to the main area of the gym to work out.

The trainer put us through a tough workout. He was surprised that someone as small as me could keep up. At the end of the workout, I pointed out that I was a competitive gymnast for a few years. Tough workouts were the norm for me.

"I can't believe you can lift almost your weight, Madam," James said in shock as he handed me an energy bar on the way out.

"I needed to for gymnastics. The uneven bars kinda depended on it. Being able to lift my weight and fling myself around the bars for different tricks. Not to mention the other events. Handstands, handsprings, walkovers, I need to be able to lift my weight off the ground to do the tricks."

"You handled that workout better than I thought you would, Taylor. I didn't believe Jamie when she said that you breezed through your workout with her and Lauren. Those two work out pretty hard."

"You did wonderfully, Taylor."

"Thanks, guys."

"You wanna go for lunch? My treat."

I hesitated a minute.

"After that workout, you need more than that energy bar Z gave you this morning," Michael said.

"Fine, but I wouldn't know what to eat."

"We'll take good care of you, won't we, Sir?"

"Come on," Michael said.

**Amy's POV**

"So, how are things with you, Jeff, and Taylor?" Gail asked me.

"They're great. Especially since you guys have given Taylor something to aim for. She's focused. She does better like that."

"What do you mean?"

"When we first got back to Cameron, Jeff told her he'd teach her how to ride the dirt bikes, but she'd have to get through her physical therapy first. She threw herself into physical therapy so she could learn how to ride with him. And she did it, faster than any of us thought, she got the strength back."

"And her eating?"

"She came to me first, and I told her I was going to tell Jeff. It was hard at first. Jeff was lost on how to deal with it because her mother had been anorexic when they were growing up together. And I feel so bad for her because she feels so guilty when she can't keep her end of a deal. She told me she'd try to eat a little more every day, and at first, if she couldn't do it for any reason, she'd pull away from me and Jeff."

"She's traumatized about something."

I nodded.

"Her mother and grandfather along with her gymnastics coaches all encouraged the anorexia. She doesn't know anything but that. She's afraid to eat, but she doesn't want to upset me and Jeff."

"Poor kid."

We walked around the health food store looking for snacks that Taylor could eat without feeling guilty and that she could also carry around easily. I also restocked the supplements she had been taking. All of a sudden I got a text.

_Hey, Amy. Michael and James are taking me to lunch. We finished our workout. Hope you're having fun with Gail. BTW, according to social media, Dad & me are dating!_

I stared at my phone.

"Gail, can you go on twitter & look up Jeff?"

Gail pulled out her phone. Her hand went to her mouth to keep her from laughing.

"What is it?"

"There are pics of Jeff & Tay from Pennsylvania. They're saying Jeff is dating the new ring announcer."

I started laughing. I texted Taylor back.

_Have fun with the boys. I'll see you at the hotel for dinner. _

Then I texted Jeff.

_Is there anything I should know about you and Taylor?_

"Come on, Gail. Taylor's going out to lunch. Maybe we should do the same."

**Jeff's POV**

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket during the interview. When it ended, I saw Amy texted and opened the text.

_Is there anything I should know about you and Taylor?_

So, Amy had found out about the social media rumors. I texted her back.

_I love her soooo much!_

MVP happened to look over my shoulder and saw my screen.

"Really, Jeff? You're gonna mess with her head?"

"Do you remember who you're talking to?"

"Good point. We have one more stop before lunch. Come on. The sooner we get through this, the better, I'm getting hungry."

I laughed.

"Alright, let's go."

_Hey, Darlin'. Are you okay?_

Taylor texted me back a few minutes later.

_Out to lunch with James and Michael. Heading back to the hotel after this to get some rest. Amy said she'll be back for dinner, so I'll see you both then. _

_Alright. Let me know when you get back to the hotel. _

_Okay. Love you. _

_Love you too, Darlin'._

"Checking on Taylor?"

"Yeah. She's with James and Michael. They took her to lunch after their workout."

"That's my point! We should be eating not dealing with vultures, man."

I laughed.

"How's she holding up with all of this?"

"She said she's going back to the hotel to rest after this. I guess she's okay. I'll find out for sure when I get back later. I feel bad I'm not with her."

"Why don't you ask someone to stay with her?"

"I don't want her to feel like she's being baby-sat. If she wants company she knows she can call someone or even text Aimes to go back. Besides, I don't think it will be long before Mark and Devon are knocking on the door to bug her about all of this."

"It's not baby-sitting. It's protecting your daughter."

"It's a fine line, when you've known her for six months."

**Taylor's POV**

Michael and James dropped me at the door to the hotel after some convincing. They were going out anyway, so I told them I could get to my room alone. I regretted it when I got upstairs.

I was looking for my key card when I noticed the blonde woman with the sleeping child in the stroller down the hall. I wasn't paying close attention to her. When I went into the room, she slipped in behind me.

"Who are you?" I asked, scared.

"Who are _you?"_ she asked back. "Are you the reason that he left?"

I was confused and scared now.

"What are you talking about?"

"Jeff! Was he cheating on me with you?"

"Listen, Ma'am, I don't know who you are or what you want, but maybe I should text him to see if he can come back?"

She slapped me. My face stung. I hadn't been hit since I'd lived with Dad.

"Don't you patronize me!"

I took a deep breath and tried not to cry.

"Ma'am, I'm not sure what you think, but I'm sure that you've got the wrong idea here."

"Really?"

I nodded, scared she'd hit me again.

"Aren't you Taylor Adams?"

I nodded.

"Isn't this Jeff Hardy's hotel room?"

I nodded again.

"Are you sleeping with him?"

"NO!"

The little girl in the stroller started to stir. I thought she was going to hit me because I shouted. She turned to the little girl to soothe her back to sleep. I took the minute to open the text and text Dad.

_Back at the hotel. Can't text. Please send Amy back asap. 911. Scared. _

"Why are you lying to me, Taylor?"

"I don't even know you, why would I lie to you?"

"I'm Beth, Jeff's ex-girlfriend."

Now I understood. A jealous ex-girlfriend got the wrong idea.

"Beth, you know about me because of twitter and everything, right?"

"Yes, Ms. Adams. You stole him from me. You stole him from his _daughter!_" she said and slapped me again.

I started crying at this point. I couldn't help it.

**Jeff's POV**

We were waiting for the interview to start. Dixie was with us this time. My phone started to vibrate. I checked it.

_Back at the hotel. Can't text. Please send Amy back asap. 911. Scared_

My stomach dropped out. _911. Scared._ I looked at Dixie.

"Dixie, I'm sorry, I have to go back to the hotel."

"What's wrong, Jeff?" she asked, worried.

I gave her my phone, open to the text, as I grabbed my things.

"Go, take my car," she said. "Make sure your little girl is okay."

I ran out and went to her driver, telling him to bring me back to the hotel immediately. He got in and drove me back to midtown. I texted Amy and asked her to get back there as soon as she could.

Arriving back at the hotel, I hurried to my room, but I did not expect what I found inside. Beth Britt, my ex-girlfriend, was standing over a sobbing Taylor, whose face had a hand print on it.

"What the hell are you doin' here, Beth? What did you do to Taylor?"

"Defending your little whore, Jeff?"

My blood started to boil.

"Don't you dare go calling her that. You don't know what you're talking about."

She'd seen the stuff online. Beth and I had been together for a while, but I had trouble letting people in fully. One day she told me I needed to make a choice, my past that I couldn't change or a future with her. I didn't see her again until I got to my hotel room.

"I thought you don't keep girls around."

"Beth, get away from Taylor before I have you arrested. If you want to talk to me, we can talk. But get the hell away from my daughter."

Beth's eyes went wide and she looked from Taylor to me. She stumbled back a step. Taylor pushed past her while she was in shock and ran to me. I looked down at her. Beth had hit her more than once. Her face was bruising. Taylor was shaking in my arms. I held her close to me for a minute.

"Taylor, I saw Mark on his way up to his room. Go upstairs to him and stay there until I come get you. Alright, Baby?"

She nodded and ran out of the room.

"Your _daughter_, Jeff? You told me you had no kids when we were together."

"Taylor's mother left me for good when she was eight months pregnant, threatened to get a restraining order if I came after her, have me arrested. Because I wouldn't become a suit and give up wrestling. I wasn't allowed to be part of her life. That's why I said I had no kids. I never thought I'd ever see her."

"But she's here."

"Her mother died six months ago in a car crash. One that she was in, Beth! The girl is already traumatized without my ex-girlfriend attacking her in our hotel room! She's barely sixteen years old!"

Amy walked in just then and looked from me to Beth. Her eyes flashed with anger.

"What did she do? Why is she here?"

"I'll explain later. Taylor's in Mark's room. Her face is starting to bruise and she's shaking. Can you go check on her?"

Amy was too quick. She jumped on Beth and started hitting her. Beth screamed and the little girl, who I hadn't noticed before now, started crying. I grabbed the little girl and put her on Taylor's bed, comforting her until she stopped crying and started to fall asleep again. Then I went back outside and pulled Amy off of Beth.

"Amy!" I shouted.

She looked at me.

"She has a toddler with her who is now in Taylor's room terrified. Please, let me handle this. Taylor needs one of us and I don't think beating the hell out of Beth is going to do anything but make you feel better. Please, help me by helping Taylor. She was sobbing when I got here."

She glared at Beth before coming and kissing me.

"Fine. I love you."

"I love you, too."

Amy left and I was alone again with Beth.

"Her?"

"Yes. It's complicated."

"Did you leave me for her, Jeff?"

"You left me, Beth. You don't get to show up and hit my daughter, especially after all these years later."

"I didn't know she was your daughter."

"Did you hear her out?"

"Not really."

"Why are you here, Beth? Why now?"

"I miss you. I need you, Jeff."

"I'm with Amy now, Beth. And after what you did to Taylor, I don't think I want you around."

"Jeff, please."

"Beth, no. Be happy I'm not pressing charges for attacking my daughter."

"So you're going to choose one daughter over the other?"

My jaw dropped.

"What are you talking about, Beth?"

"The little girl. She's your daughter. I even named her after your mother. Her name is Ruby Hardy."

I got more pissed off.

"And you're only telling me this… Wait, you're only telling me this because you thought I was getting serious with another woman."

She looked away from me.

"I can't believe you, Beth! That little girl is mine? Honestly mine? No jokes?"

"No lies, Jeff. I found out after I left and I was hurt, so I never went back."

"I want a DNA test. I want proof that you're not lying to me."

"Jeffrey!"

"No, Beth. After all these years, you show up, assault my daughter, and then just say this little girl is also my daughter. I want proof."

"Fine!" She wrote down her phone number and shoved it at me. "Call me when you get back to North Carolina. In the meantime, give me Ruby so I can get out of this horrible city!"

I put the number in my pocket and went to Taylor's room. I picked up the little girl.

"Where's Mama?" she asked.

"Just outside. We're going to her," I said to her as soothingly as I could.

Ruby put her arms around my neck and I felt myself calming down. I carried her outside to Beth.

"Beth, you know you can't tell anyone anything you learned tonight. Not about Taylor or Amy."

"Ruby, say goodbye."

"Bye, Daddy," she said and kissed my nose.

"Bye, Ruby."

I put Ruby in Beth's arms, but she kept staring at me. I watched her as she and Beth left. I was lost, but I didn't have time to focus on that just yet. I had a daughter that I knew was mine hurt and crying because of Beth upstairs. I grabbed my keycard and hurried out of the room to Taylor.


	20. Chapter 19: Aftermath

**Chapter Nineteen: Aftermath**

**Jeff's POV:**

I knocked on Mark and Jamie's hotel room door. Jamie opened the door with a worried look on her face and took me straight to Taylor who was sitting on the couch with Amy holding her and Mark promising he wouldn't let anyone else hurt her. Jamie gave me a hug and I looked at her.

"This isn't your fault. None of us thought Beth would do something like this," she said, trying to make me feel better.

"Thanks, but right now the only thing I'm worried about is making sure Taylor's okay."

At the sound of my voice Taylor jumped off the couch and into my arms, dropping the ice that had been on her face before I walked in the door.

"Dad! Who was she? Why did she go all nuts and hit me?" Taylor asked, still scared and shaking in my arms.

I lifted her up and sat back on the couch with her in my lap. I explained everything to everyone. Beth, Ruby, her sudden flare of jealousy, everything was out in the open.

"That little girl is my sister?" Taylor asked.

"Possibly. We'll find out when we go back to North Carolina. I told her I want a DNA test considering how she just showed up here actin' the way she did. But, the time fits with when she broke up with me, Taylor, so it's a real possibility she is your baby sister."

"She's the only reason I was able to reach out to you," Taylor said.

"What do you mean?"

"You were my last text message, and when Beth started accusing me of sleeping with you I shouted, which made the little girl fuss. She went to calm her down and in that time I got out the one text to you while she was distracted."

I had been wondering how, in all of that mess, Taylor had been able to get a text across to me.

"How were you able to come back, Dad? Didn't you have more interviews today?"

"I left, Darlin'. I was with Dixie when I got your text. I showed her and she insisted I take her car back here to check on you."

"I'll have to thank Miss Dixie when I see her."

"Which will probably be tonight," Dad said before looking at Amy. "I'm sorry, Aimes, but unless Dixie cancels, she had already mentioned she wanted to meet with me and Taylor for dinner to discuss this media issue."

"I get it. Besides, I didn't get a chance to tell you. Vince found out I'm in New York. He wants me at WWE Headquarters bright and early tomorrow morning. I should probably go stay at a hotel out there to beat rush hour traffic tonight," Amy said and we could all see Taylor got nervous.

"Don't worry, Taylor. You can hang out with me and Lauren if you want tomorrow. We can work out, go shopping, show you the sites around here, it'll be fun. Just a girls' day, if you want we can ask some of the other Knockouts to go. How does that sound?" Jamie jumped in.

"I guess, if it's okay with Dad and I don't have anything to do for Miss Dixie," Taylor replied.

"I have no problem with it, Taylor. If you wanna go hang out with the girls for a day, have fun."

She went over and hugged Amy.

"Don't stay away too long, please?"

I had realized then that Amy hadn't been away from Taylor for more than a few hours since I got custody of her and they met. This would be the first time and it made me realize just how much Taylor really loved and relied on Amy as a mother. My heart melted and broke at the same time because of how traumatized she was.

My phone rang and I looked at the screen. It was Dixie. I looked at Mark and he snatched Taylor and pulled him into a hug in his lap. She was still shaky, but didn't fight him. I walked into the bathroom and took the call.

"Hi, Dixie."

"Hey, Darlin'. How's our little girl?"

"Shaky. Bruised. But she'll be okay."

"_Bruised?_ Jeff, what happened?"

"Do you remember my ex, Beth Britt?"

"Sweet little blonde girl?"

"Yeah, her."

"What about her?"

"She saw what was going around the media about me and Taylor. She flew into a jealous rage and flew to New York to confront me and my new girlfriend, only she found Taylor alone. She hit her a few times before I got there. It's more complicated, but I made it clear she better stay away from Taylor or I'll press charges."

"I was gonna cancel dinner, but I think the three of us need to sit down and figure out how we're going to handle this press issue. Can the two of you meet me in half an hour in the lobby and we'll go to the restaurant together?"

"Sure, I'll get Taylor and go get ready. We're up in Mark's room. I sent her up here to get her out of the situation with Beth as quick as I could."

"Good call, Darlin'," she said before continuing. "I'm not interrupting anything with you two and Amy, now am I?"

"No, Amy needs to drive out to Connecticut. McMahon wants to have a meeting with her first thing tomorrow morning and she thinks it's best to drive out tonight and avoid the New York rush hour in the morning."

"She's right. But make it an hour until we meet so you can say good bye to her before we leave in case we don't make it back before she has to go."

"Thanks, Dixie."

"No problem, Darlin'. You've been one of my most loyal. I'm not gonna mistreat you. You're family."

"I'll see you soon."

I hung up the phone and went back to the others.

"Mark, Jamie, thank you for taking care of Taylor in this mess. You guys really are great friends. But we need to go. That was Dixie. Considering Taylor got attacked by my ex because of this media issue, she thinks we really need to meet tonight. So, she wants us to meet her in an hour to go to dinner."

Jamie got up and hugged Taylor.

"If you need anything, Honey, call me. I don't care about the time. I'll come downstairs and just watch movies with you if you can't sleep, okay?"

"Thanks, Jamie. I'll do that if I can't sleep."

"And remember, if anyone messes with you, Monkey, I'll put 'em through a table," Mark said with a grin, obviously already picturing the table.

"Thanks, Mark," Taylor said, cracking a smile.

"Guys, thanks again for this. If you guys ever need anything, let me know."

"Shut up and just take care of Monkey," Mark said to me.

I smiled and we left the room together.

**Taylor's POV**

It was weird going back to the hotel room. I didn't want to be in it. I could still feel her in the room, even though I knew she wasn't there anymore. I could see it and Dad kept reassuring me that she left. Still, I was scared.

Dad and Amy went into their room after I lied to them saying I'd be okay while Amy packed. I went into my room, the room my probable baby sister had slept in, and started looking for clothes to change to. Not sure where we'd be going for dinner, I decided to follow Christy's rule on dressing. A black dress fits any occasion. So, I pulled out a spaghetti strap black dress that went to my knees and found my flats. After getting showered, I threw on a pair of shorts and a tank top as I sat down to do my hair. My hair, which was still pink, was just being put into a bun with some of the strands at the front being curled at the sides. I put on some subtle makeup, other than where the bruising was, I put a little more on there to cover up where I'd been hit, and the lotus necklace Dad gave my mom when they were dating. I didn't go anywhere without it anymore, even if I didn't have it on.

_Flashback: Three years ago_

_I was sitting in the principal's office. I had gotten into a fight after a boy in my class started insulting me for not knowing who my father was. Things had gotten heated and I had broken pretty much every social rule Mama and Granddaddy had ever given me. I knew I was gonna be in a lot of trouble as I watched the look on Mama's face as the principal told her of my actions. She was fuming, even if she looked as calm as a statue. I was looking at the calm before the storm. _

_When we got home I tried to get away from her. It didn't work. She followed me into my room before I could lock her out. She grabbed me by the arm and flung me into the wall, yelling at me. My back throbbed and my neck started to hurt._

"_Damn it, Taylor! How many times do I have to tell you that these behaviors are unacceptable?!"_

"_It's not my fault, Mama!"_

_She slapped me in the face. My face stung, but I knew nobody would even notice because the boy in my class had hit me in my face a few times. Nobody would keep track of what made sense as part of the fight versus what wasn't part of the fight. _

"_Take responsibility for your actions! A lady never gets into a fight, especially not with a man, in public!" she shouted at me as she shoved me back into the wall, my head snapping into it as my body collided into the unyielding wall. _

"_Maybe if you told me anything about my Daddy people wouldn't pick on me like this, Mama," I said, trying to stay calm and keep the pain out of my voice, knowing it pissed her off more when I showed I was in pain. _

"_So you're trying to blame me? Your Daddy was an adrenaline junkie who didn't care enough about either of us to do right by us! So, no, I will not talk about him with you! He's a worthless boy from a small town in the middle of nowhere and I'll be damned if you're gonna turn out like him or ever know him!" _

_Mama was really pissed off now. She started hitting me with my belt which had been hanging over my bed post which just pissed her off more, because I hadn't put it away. She kept hitting me over and over. My ribs hurt where she was hitting me. _

"_Mama! Please stop! You're hurting me!" I shouted, unable to keep myself from crying out in pain this time. _

_She got angrier and just kept hitting me over and over, nowhere anyone would see, but I would definitely feel every time I moved or breathed. I couldn't stop from crying. I was scared and hurting. I don't remember her stopping. I just remember waking up in my bed, wishing I could find my Daddy and never have to see Mama again. _

_Present Day:_

**Jeff's POV:**

I knocked on Taylor's door to get her to come out and say good-bye to Amy. She didn't answer the door. I opened the door and found her sitting on her bed with her back to the wall and her knees to her chest. She was hyperventilating. I hurried over to her and pulled her to me.

"Taylor! Darlin', come back to me. Everything's okay now. Just focus, Honey."

I rocked her back and forth, just holding her to me. After a few minutes, she started to calm down and curled into me. A few minutes after that, she finally snapped out of it.

"What's the matter, Darlin'? What happened?"

"Nothing happened, Dad. Just remembering something I don't want to."

"What is it?"

She looked at her cell phone and saw the time.

"I've gotta hurry up and finish getting ready and say bye to Amy. I can't believe I lost it like that. I'm sorry, Dad. I'll be out in a minute. Go, let me change into my dress."

I walked outside to Amy.

"Is she okay in there?"

"I don't know. She's avoiding the question, but when I went in there she was panicked and hyperventilating. She rushed me out so she could finish getting dressed before she came out to say good bye to you. I'm worried. She was really scared of whatever she was remembering when I went in there."

"Don't push her. She'll talk when she's ready," Amy said as she came over and hugged me, trying to reassure me.

"Really, sometimes I feel like I'd completely mess her life up if I didn't have you around to help me, Aimes. I love you. More than anyone or anything except Taylor."

"As it should be," she said as she smiled at me and then kissed me.

Taylor came outside a few minutes later. Her hair and makeup were fixed, and she was in one of the black dresses she bought when she went shopping with Christy. She walked over to Amy and hugged her. There was a relief and desperation in the way she hugged her. I knew something was wrong, but I also knew Amy was right and she wouldn't talk until she was ready. She kissed Amy on the cheek.

"Be careful driving, please. And come back soon?" she asked Amy.

Amy pulled Taylor close to her again, kissing the top of her head.

"Taylor, I'll be back tomorrow night. I won't let Vince keep me longer. I promise. And I will be very careful driving. Just take it easy and have fun tomorrow with the girls," Amy said, releasing Taylor and looking at me. "You should get going. Dixie's been good to you guys, so you shouldn't keep her waiting."

"I know, but it's hard to say good-bye to you," I said.

I walked over to her and kissed her, pulling her close to me. My heart momentarily forgot all the bad things in my life as she was in my arms, my lips on her lips. We pulled apart and I stroked her face.

"I'll call you when we get back from the restaurant, alright?"

"You better Hardy, or I might beat you up tomorrow," Amy said laughing. "Now go."

I put my arms around Taylor and we left the hotel room. Taylor stayed quiet on the way down. Dixie was waiting in the lobby for us. She came right over to us when she saw us get off the elevator and hugged Taylor.

"Darlin', I'm sorry this happened," she said to her. "At least it doesn't look too bad. There's almost no swelling."

"Mark and Jamie gave me ice to keep the swelling down as soon as I got to their room. As for the bruising, I learned a long time ago to hide bruising from Mama since I was out skateboarding and things like that and she strictly said no. I've got makeup covering it up. So if I can do it, I'm sure if the bruising is still there in a few days when we start taping the makeup team should have no problem covering it up."

"You've got a resourceful girl here, Jeff," she said, finally acknowledging me.

"Miss Dixie, I wanna thank you for letting Dad come back here. I was really scared and since the last text I sent was to him, he was the only one I could get a quick text out to when she turned her back on me. I know you needed him for interviews, but I can't tell you how relieved he was when he got here. The nightmare ended. Thank you."

Dixie hugged Taylor again.

"Darlin' don't thank me. We're a family here. You were in trouble and needed your daddy. We covered the interview. He was missed, but I'm glad he got here before things got worse than they already were."

"Still, Dixie, thanks for giving me all this slack for me to be a father suddenly."

"Jeff, you've been distracted for years. Everyone whose known you knew that you had a little girl out there somewhere and you were always worrying about her. I'm not so heartless that I'd begrudge you the chance to get to know and take care of her," Dixie said to me. "Now let's go. My driver is waiting to take us to the restaurant."

We got to the restaurant and were seated right away. I wasn't sure that Taylor was going to eat. She didn't when she got upset. But she surprised me in a good way when she ordered chicken dish. I looked at her.

"I don't want to. Everything in me is saying I can't, but after the workout and how drained after what happened, if I don't eat I think I might faint," she said to me looking self-conscious.

"I'm just happy you're eating. I know you have problems doing that when you're upset," I said to her as I leaned over and hugged her.

"She eats around me. She knows that I won't let her get away with not eating. Not if she wants to be a wrestler someday," Dixie said with a reassuring smile to Taylor.

"So, Miss Dixie, how are we gonna handle the rumors going around?"

"Well, since we'd already decided that we would not let anyone know that you're really Jeff's daughter before you turn 18, we can't squash the rumors like that. If we tell them the truth about that now you're never going to have privacy again. Your father and uncle have quite the following, Sweetheart."

"So what can we do, Dixie?" I asked.

"Well, we can do an in-ring segment, stating that the two of you are nothing more than friends, but calling that attention might fuel the fire."

Taylor looked at Dixie, concerned.

"So what should we do, Miss Dixie?"

I looked at Dixie, having a feeling about what she was going to say. I also knew it was going to make Taylor uncomfortable.

"Is there any other way?" I asked.

"I don't think so, Jeff. If we do this, more than likely people will lose interest in the whole thing quickly and move on to the next scandal."

"What are the two of you talkin' about?" asked Taylor.

"Darlin', it may be easier to just tease a relationship between the two of you. Obviously nothing overtly inappropriate, but things like Jeff spending more time with you, kissing your cheek, hugging you, things he does discreetly anyway, just on screen and in planned promotions. This way people can think what they want even though you're not actually doing anything. Do that for a little while and then maybe set you up in a storyline with one of the other wrestlers, pulling the attention away from Jeff and you as a couple."

"You want us to go along with this?" Taylor asked.

"Only if you can handle it. If you can't, I'm gonna have to talk to my creative team and see what we can come up with to try to squash this quickly. You're a teenager, Taylor. I'm not gonna force you into anything, and I want you to have a say in what we do about this. Just let me know what you think."

Taylor went quiet and while she stayed quiet our food arrived. We discussed other things while we had dinner since Taylor wasn't ready to make a decision on our problem just yet. I wasn't sure how I wanted to handle it, but Dixie was right. If we incorporated it into the storyline and just kept teasing the story until we started a new storyline the fans would drop it when we moved into the new storyline.

**Taylor's POV**

I didn't know what I was expecting Miss Dixie to say when she brought up how to deal with the situation that was everywhere now, but it wasn't having me and Dad play into it. What was worse was the fact that Dad wasn't surprised when she brought it up. I wasn't sure what to do about it so I was glad that Dad and Miss Dixie changed the subject while we ate.

"So Jeff, Darlin', I'm gonna need to make sure that you make your interviews tomorrow. Do you want to bring Taylor to keep her backstage with you?"

"Actually, Miss Dixie, I have plans tomorrow. Jamie and Lauren are planning a girls' day out with me."

"What are you planning on doin'?"

"Workout, shopping, site seeing, things like that, Ma'am."

"That works out perfectly," Dixie said as she reached into her purse and pulled out a credit card. "Take this. You'll need some new dresses and accessories for appearances and shows over the next few weeks. You can ask the girls to help you pick out what you'll need. This is your company credit card. Only use it for things that I ask you to pick up, please."

I took the credit card and looked at it for a second. Then I handed it to Dad.

"I promise that I won't use it for anything else, Miss Dixie."

"I know you won't. If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't be handing it to you. I'd have put it in your Daddy's name so he had to take you shopping."

"That's a lot of trust, Dixie," Dad said.

"She's a great kid, Jeff. She deserves the trust."

"Thank you. She really is."

I blushed.

"So, I'll be at the interviews tomorrow and Taylor will be with the girls so she won't be alone. There shouldn't be any problems. Besides, Beth left New York, she's not a big fan of this city so she took the baby and left."

"Baby?" Dixie asked.

Dad explained about Ruby. I stayed quiet and picked at my food, not sure what to say about that either. By the time they finished discussing that I had ate more than half my plate of food and was done eating. The waiter came by and took away the dinner plates and asked about dessert. Dad and Miss Dixie ordered desserts.

"I'll just have a cappuccino," I said.

"Taylor, you won't sleep after that," Dad said.

"I know. That's the point. I'm not ready to sleep after everything today. Please?"

"Fine. Make that two cappuccinos, please," Dad said to the waiter.

I stayed quiet while I had my cappuccino. When dessert was done Dad and Miss Dixie looked at me. They needed my answer. I was out of my league here. Miss Dixie thought this was the best thing to do. Dad, while reluctant, obviously agreed with her.

"Nothing overly inappropriate, right?" I asked them.

"No, Darlin'! No inappropriate touching. Kisses on the cheek and things like that. Nothing more. I promise," Dixie replied.

"Then I'll go along with what you think is best Miss Dixie. You and Dad both seem to be in agreement about this. I'm out of my element in this world right now, still getting used to it. If you think this is the best way to go, then I'm gonna do it."

"Taylor," Dad started, "this means you need to start calling me Jeff whenever we're in public. If we're not at home or in our hotel rooms, you have to call me Jeff again. Are you okay with that?"

Was I? I had finally realized how much I loved my father. Was I really ready to go back to distancing myself from him again? Thinking about it, it wasn't really distancing myself, just a character. We'd still be a family and it wouldn't change how much I loved him.

"Changing what I call you won't change how much I've come to love you," I said to him.

He pulled me close to him in a hug. A flash went off. We knew it would be all over social media within hours and I was glad this time we had a plan to deal with it.

**Jeff's POV**

When the tapings started in NYC I was both excited and nervous. I loved wrestling in front of the New York crowds. They were some of the best wrestling fans in the country, possibly the world. Plus, Matt was with me now because, against his Ring of Honor contract, he was doing the NYC tapings for TNA. I had several segments in the week we'd be here including a championship match with Lashley. But worried me most was this was when Taylor and I would be debuting our "relationship."

"Jeff! You okay, Man?" asked Matt as he walked into the dressing room at The Manhattan Center.

I looked up at my older brother.

"What if I should've just told Dixie no and not put Taylor in this position? She admitted she's out of her league here," I said to him.

"Look, it's not like you're gonna be making out with her. You're not gonna be doing anything I haven't caught the two of you doing on-screen anyway when you think nobody's watching you. You'll be fine. Taylor will be fine. Just calm down because if she notices you're freaking out, don't you think she's gonna freak out?"

"You're right. I gotta pull myself together before she gets back."

"Where is the little daredevil?"

"Hair and makeup. They had her dye her hair purple two days ago so they wanted extra time to do her hair before the show starts. She and Christy are splitting things fairly evenly tonight."

"Really? They're putting a lot on her pretty quickly aren't they?"

"Yeah, but it's helping Taylor not to focus on what's being said on Twitter and everything. They also set up her official TNA twitter account since this all went down, so people are tweeting her directly about it. I told her to be more like me, go on once a month to check the tweets," I said with a small laugh. "Pointed out there's only one Hardy who lives on social media and it's you."

Before Matt could say anything, Taylor walked in and he hugged her. She was dressed & ready for the show. The only thing that was missing was her heels. She walked over and gave me a hug, before sitting next to me as I continued getting ready.

"You ready for tonight?" I asked Taylor.

"I'm scared. One of these encounters puts me directly between you and Lashley."

"Wait, what?!" Matt exclaimed.

"After my match with Lashley they want her to come over to me immediately, before he leaves the ring."

"Jeff, Lashley…"

"Won't touch her if he wants to live to see tomorrow, Matt. She'll be fine. I won't let him hurt her. Besides, you know as well as I do when she's nervous and someone picks her up she gets away. Why do you think Mark and Devon call her Monkey?"

"I'll be just out of sight at the top of the stage guys. If Lashley gets stupid, I don't care if nobody is supposed to know I'm back until later in the segment, I'm coming out."

"Uncle Matt, you're already in trouble with your promotion for being here. Do you really think you should be causing trouble with this promotion?" Taylor asked him. "Jeff and I will manage."

"Since when do you call him Jeff again?"

"Unless we're on the Hardy Compound or in our hotel room I've been told I need to call him Jeff for now."

"Isn't this going a little far, Jeff? Wouldn't it be easier to just tell the truth about who she is to you?"

"And take away the last bit of her teenaged years? Matt, she still has some anonymity because she's billed under Tammy's last name and from Texas. We go announcing she's a Hardy and her life is gonna change even more than it did when she came into our lives. Isn't one life-altering change enough for this year?"

"Besides, I agreed to this. Jeff and Miss Dixie gave me the choice."

"The truth will come out sooner or later, guys."

"We know, but for now it's not like anything that can't be looked back and considered a father/daughter relationship is going on. Originally we were thinking until she's 18, but that's not for two years. Now we're thinking until she's at least out of high school."

Matt didn't look happy, but he stayed quiet. At this point, his fiancée, Reby, walked into the room. She kissed him before looking at me and Taylor.

"Hey guys. Is everything alright between all of you?"

"Jeff and Matt are arguing over the way the company wants to handle the social media situation. I'm going to find Amy," Taylor said as she got up.

"Taylor, wait," I tried to say to her, but she kept going, obviously too upset to talk.

"I know I don't really spend a lot of time around her, but obviously she's not okay with you two acting like assholes. She's new to your family, new to this business. Can you knock your shit off long enough to think about how it's gonna affect her to be the cause of you acting like morons?" Reby said looking back and forth between us. "I'm going to start getting some shots of the set-up. Can you two be left alone or will I find out you broke the teenager more when I come back?"

"I'm sorry, Honey," Matt said as he tried to pull her close, but she wouldn't let him.

"You're in my hometown, now, boys. We don't like grown men making little girls cry. Knock it off," she said as she walked out.

"I'm sorry, Jeff. I shouldn't have pushed anything in front of Taylor, especially knowing how upset she gets at times."

"Forget about it. I told you I've wondered if I'm doing the right thing. I just don't know what else to do. If we came out and admitted she's my daughter the press would be all over her. We've kept her sheltered from so much since she came to Cameron. Other than when she's at school, we've kept people from hounding her about Tammy and her past. If people find out she's mine they're gonna wanna know her story. Why her parents split, where she's been for all these years, where's her mother, how'd she end up with me now? These are all questions we've tried so hard to keep out of her everyday life. How can we just take it away now? And if they find out about Nick and Grace they're gonna be all over them down in Texas and Taylor will never forgive that. That is why I ultimately knew this was the best route. When Dixie brought it up. Keep going like this for a while and then put her into a storyline with another wrestler. When she graduates, we can admit she's mine. This way she has time to prepare. This all came out of nowhere, Matt. I'm trying to do the best I can with her, even if I am worried I'm just messing it all up, Man."

"You're not messing it up, Jeff. You're trying and that's a lot more than some guys in your position would do, so stop beating yourself up."

"Beth came and assaulted her because of all of this."

I explained everything I hadn't told Matt about what happened with me, Taylor, Amy, Beth, and Ruby. He just stared at me with his jaw dropped. For the first time in years, Matthew Moore Hardy had no words for what was going on.

**Taylor's POV**

I stayed with Amy, who was hanging out with some of the Knockouts until it was show time. Christy went out and did the first quarter of the show, which would be part of one day's show. I did the second quarter, which would be the second half of that same show, and it had the Lashley vs Hardy Championship match.

Standing in the middle of the ring, I announced Dad. He came out, his first time wrestling in Manhattan in a long time and got a huge pop. The fans went absolutely nuts. He ran around the ring, literally trying to acknowledge every first row fan. Then he came into the ring and jumped up onto the ropes for the other fans to see. When things calmed down, he came over and kissed my cheek, which made the fans go crazier.

After a moment, things quieted down enough that I was able to announce Lashley. The fans gave him as much heat as they gave Dad love. He came down the ramp, ignoring the fans. The fans got a good laugh and started chanting "You fucked up!" when he went for his jump onto the apron… and fell. I hid from the cameras behind Dad because I had trouble hiding the laugh myself.

When Lashley got up he was pissed off. I went to get out of the ring quickly because he wasn't waiting for the bell, he went right for Dad. The match was a great match, though Dad Swantoned the steel steps when Lashley moved at the last minute. That was the turning point. In pain from his lower back hitting the steps, Dad couldn't move fast enough. Lashley finished him pretty fast.

As I was told to do, I gave Lashley an off-handed announcement as the winner of the match before putting my mic down by the timekeeper, losing my heels and rushing into the ring to Dad's side.

"Jeff! Are you okay?"

Dad looked like he was seeing stars. Lashley grabbed my arm.

"You give the champion of this company some respect!" he shouted at me as he pulled me to my feet.

My nerves were raw. I was in such a bad situation and he was scaring me. When he went to grab both arms, I kicked him in the stomach and hit him with the Twist of Fate, which I had picked up from watching Dad, Matt, and Amy. When I got up, I saw that Dad was up on the ropes. He hit Lashley with a Swanton before he could get up.

Dad rolled out of the ring and then helped me down. He gave me a kiss on my cheek and hugged me. JB handed me my heels as I helped Dad up the ramp. Uncle Matt was waiting for us there with Amy. They took him to the trainers' room because he was having trouble moving and a production assistant came and brought me to Dixie.

"Taylor, have a seat," Dixie said to me as I walked into her dressing room.

I sat down and the production assistant closed the door behind him as he left the room. I was scared I would be in trouble for what I had done to Lashley. Miss Dixie didn't look mad though and I was confused.

"Yes, Ma'am?"

"Darlin' you didn't tell me that your Daddy, Amy, and Uncle Matt were training you in the ring already!"

"They're not. I picked that up by watching them. They agree with the other guys in the locker room. I need to put on some more weight before they'll allow me to start actually training. But I pick things up just as much from watching them as I do from being walked through them after all the years of gymnastics. I got scared and just reacted. I'm sorry if I shouldn't have done that, Miss Dixie."

"Shouldn't have done that? Taylor, darlin', you just got one of the biggest pops of the night and Lashley shouldn't have been putting his meaty hands on you."

"Wait, he wasn't supposed to grab me like that?"

"He was told he could grab your arm to turn you to face him and deliver his lines only. Him grabbing both arms, lifting you up, was not part of that instruction. We'd never tell any of the wrestlers around here to do anything that could hurt you, especially not without talking to you and your daddy first to make sure it was done safely."

I got a little upset.

"Dad's gonna be furious. Uncle Matt was telling him earlier that Lashley was gonna do something to me. Dad said if he did he wouldn't live to see tomorrow. I should get to the trainers' room, Miss Dixie, so I can explain this to him before he comes yelling at you."

"Go ahead, Taylor. And just so you know, I think we might be able to do a little more with you in the ring now. I'll talk to your Daddy about it when he's calmer. Now go on, Darlin'."

I nodded and left the room. I found Dad on his way to Dixie's dressing room and diverted him to our dressing room.

"What are you doing, Taylor?"

"Jeff, listen to me. I just came from Miss Dixie's office. Lashley wasn't supposed to do more than grab my arm to turn me around to face him. Miss Dixie said the rest was not part of his instructions and if they had wanted to do something where I was at risk in the ring, they would have talked to us first and made sure it was done the right way so I wouldn't get hurt. She didn't know he was gonna do this."

"What else did she say? If he wasn't supposed to touch you, what did she say about what you did? Speaking of, who taught you how to do that, Taylor?"

"I learned it from watching you, Matt, and Amy. I pick things up different ways, Jeff. I can just as easily pick things up by watching how people do them as by being walked through them. The only reason I did it tonight was because I got scared," I replied and Jeff pulled me to him in a hug.

"I'm sorry you were scared, Taylor. I'm gonna make that overgrown asshole regret ever touching you," he said as he stroked my hair.

It was then that I realized there was a camera crew that walked in behind us.

"What did Dixie say to you about what you did?"

"She said that she was surprised I knew how to do it and that I got one of the biggest pops of the night by hitting Lashley."

Dad laughed.

"That's my girl," he said as he kissed my cheek.

The camera crew left.

"Backstage promo. Sorry, Taylor. I didn't get a chance to warn you."

"It's okay. I didn't exactly give you a chance to find out that I know how to do more than holds before we were in the ring and I hit Lashley with the Twist of Fate."

"What else can you do?"

"I can do the Swanton, Reverse Mule Kick, Baseball Slide, and the Whisper in the Wind from your moves. From Amy's I picked up the Hurricanrana and Moonsault. From Matt, I've picked up the Leg Drop."

"And you learned all of this from watching us?"

"You and your videos. Gymnastics is a combination of training. Videos and walking through the moves. I can pick things up either way."

"Then maybe I should tell the guys to give up on the weight goal and we all just start training you. Matt said you did a solid Twist of Fate out there, but I'd rather know that you were actually being trained in the ring and see what you could do before you go throwing moves on guys like Lashley."

At that point Al Snow knocked on the door.

"Al, what can I do for you?" Dad asked.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to your girl here," he replied.

"About?" I asked nervously.

"I help out with training talent. After what I saw in the ring, how do you feel about meeting me here tomorrow morning to show me what you can do to see what we can teach you? That is, unless Jeff has an issue?"

I could see he wanted to say no, even though he just said he wanted me trained properly. But I also knew he was lying about his age and wrestling when he was 16.

"What time do you want her here, Al?" Dad asked instead.

"Excellent. 10? This way you should still have time to get some rest before tomorrow's show," Al explained.

"I'll be here," I said with a smile on my face.


	21. Chapter Twenty: Ten Months Later

**Chapter Twenty: Ten Months Later**

**Jeff's POV**

I was sitting in the living room, very nervous, holding Ruby, who was now in my custody after a rough custody battle with Beth. Amy was at my side, glowing with excitement as we waited for Taylor to come down the stairs. All of a sudden, the doorbell rang and I groaned inwardly. I knew who was on the other side.

Amy went and answered the door. Coming into the living room, she came back with a wrestler that I'd known for a while now, Nick Massie, known to the world as Nick Jackson of the Young Bucks. He wasn't a bad guy, in general I had no real problem with him, except tonight. I had a problem with why he was in Cameron.

Taylor was just weeks from her high school graduation. She put a lot of work into school this school year, going to Union Pines part time and, after discussions with me, Amy, and Dixie, the rest of the time she studied with a tutor who traveled with TNA, especially after Christy had her baby. Taylor really stepped up for the company. Her tutor kept in touch with her teachers at Union Pines to find out what they were teaching on a week by week basis, what homework and other assignments they were giving, and they would even get the exams they were giving in class to give to Taylor. She did all of this while on the road working with TNA and kept her grades up.

I was brought out of my thoughts when Amy grabbed the camera and started taking pictures. Taylor was coming downstairs in an ankle length emerald green dress with spaghetti straps. Just like the night of her Sweet Sixteen, my breath caught. Her green hair, which matched her dress, was loose, done in curls. My little girl looked beautiful.

"Pretty sister," Ruby said, breaking the silence.

Taylor came over and took Ruby from me. The two had gotten close during the custody battle and even more after, when Ruby had to adjust to her new home. Taylor was a big help with the transition.

Amy took some pictures of Taylor and Ruby together before telling me to get into the picture with my two girls.

"Amy, give me the camera," Nick said.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because you belong in the family pictures. Go. I'll take a few shots for you," Nick said.

Nick took the camera from Amy. We stood on either side of Taylor who was still holding Ruby. He took a couple of shots before Amy pulled out of the shot.

"Now it's your turn, Nick. Let's go."

I wanted to grumble, but I kept it to myself. Taylor and Nick posed together. I knew there was nothing between them, but still, my daughter was about to go out for the night with someone who was nearly ten years older than her. I had a problem with that. One that I kept to myself because Amy told me she'd kick my ass if I ruined this night for Taylor.

Nick and Taylor posed for about fifteen pictures before Taylor said no more. Then she gave me, Amy, and Ruby hugs before walking out the front door with Nick.

**Taylor's POV**

Nick and I walked outside and I saw the limo.

"I didn't expect this, Nick."

"It's not every day I take a friend to their senior prom, so why not go all out?"

"Are you sure you're okay with this? Because you don't really have to go if you don't want to. We could find something in North Carolina to do. When Dad first found out that you were taking me what time did he tell you to have me home by?"

"The time the sun's up. He said if Ruby gets up for breakfast and you're not home he's gonna kick my ass."

"So that means we actually have until closer to eight. Ruby's like clockwork. She doesn't get out of bed until just before eight every morning."

"Nice. But we're going to your prom."

"Are you sure?"

"This isn't about your ex-boyfriend, is it, Taylor?"

"Collin? No. We're still really close friends. We didn't date that long before we realized that we were better as friends anyway. Our relationship and break-up weren't like normal teenagers."

"Then what is it?" Nick asked as we finally got into the limo.

"You and your brother Matt are known around here because of the matches you've done with OMEGA."

"And?"

"And there are some people in my high school who are attention-whores and they act like they're all nice and friendly around people who have any kind of fame. Especially certain cheerleaders. I've had trouble with some of them since the day I've met some of them. Telling me I'm a Texas psychopath unleashed in Cameron to my face and then acting all sugary sweet in front of Dad and Uncle Matt."

"So we invite them to a Superkick Party," Nick said with a huge smile on his babyface, referring to one of his and his brother's signature moves.

I couldn't help but laugh. I could imagine him superkicking people at the prom in his tux. It was my new happy thought.

"Oh, I forgot to give you this," Nick said, pulling a corsage from beside him.

He slid it over my wrist. It was a white corsage which was a nice contrast with everything else. I pulled out the boutonnière I had gotten him and pinned it to him.

The ride to prom was too fast. The driver opened the door for us and Nick got out first, offering me his hand. I had gotten so used to wearing heels that I didn't even wobble on the gravel.

We walked into the room and everyone started staring. I pulled Nick right to the table with Collin, which thanks to the fact that he chose Prom committee as his non-sport activity this year, he made sure we were sitting with him at my request. We sat down and he looked over at us.

"You're one of the Young Bucks," Collin said in awe.

"You don't miss anything, do you?" Nick replied sarcastically.

"I told you that I asked him to come with me, Collin."

"Yeah, but they travel all over the world. I didn't know he'd actually be able to take the time to come to a prom like this," he replied to me.

"Well, I made an exception for Taylor."

"Nick, this is Collin. He's one of the school football players and track stars. In the fall he's off to Penn State."

"This is the ex?"

"Yes, and one of my best friends in this tiny hell hole. He was the first friend I made here."

"Hi, I'm a huge fan," Collin said.

"I see that. So you're Taylor's best friend here?"

"We've been through a lot, yeah."

Just then, none other than Addison came up to the table with her band of merry moron cheerleaders.

"You're Nick Jackson! It was so nice when you've come here with the Hardy brothers to do fundraisers for our school. My name is Addison…"

I cut her off. I wasn't in the mood for her and I was done walking on eggshells with her.

"Addison, nobody cares about who you are or how far up someone's ass you're willing to shove your head to get near someone who's famous. Everyone knows your personality is as fake as your boobs and your nose, so save it. Can you go away? Nick and I were trying to have a good time."

Her face started turning red. Her friends couldn't help but laugh. Collin got up and walked away because he'd knew I was gonna snap and say something to her sooner or later. Nick found it hysterical.

"How dare you! Who do you think you are?"

"I think I'm the Texan psychopath whose had enough of your fake shit and is trying to have a good time with Nick here. I am a Hardy who will no longer keep her mouth shut like everyone else in Cameron has done for you your entire life. There are people who aren't going to put up with your shit, and you've just pushed the last button with one of them," I said as I stood up smiling, Nick standing up with me. "Do you wanna play with me, cheerleader? Because I am _so _tired of putting up with you."

"You _are _crazy!"

"You have no idea, darlin'. Now, do you want to keep disturbing me, bringing attention over here so that the chaperones come over here and intervene, in which case one or both of us get in trouble? In which case, if I get in trouble, you better watch your back because all bets are off, because there are only a few weeks to graduation anyway. _Or_, do you wanna walk away and let me have my prom night in peace?"

Addison stormed off. Nick hugged me as he kept laughing hysterically. We sat back down.

"I recorded all of that, by the way," he said to me.

"Why?"

"To show my brother. He's gonna find this as funny as I do."

We both had another good laugh about it. Collin came back over and we started having a good laugh because I finally put Addison in her place.

**Jeff's POV**

I had finally gotten Ruby to bed. She didn't want to go to sleep because she wanted to wait until Taylor came home. I told her she could see Taylor when she got up in the morning so she should go to sleep because the sooner she did, the sooner she could see Taylor. I was shocked when it worked.

Amy was sitting on the couch. I went into our room to get something. When I went back outside, I sat with her. She started leaning on her and all my tension went away.

"You don't have to worry about her going to the prom with Nick. He wouldn't do anything to her."

"I know. It's just she's my daughter and he's someone I wrestle. It's weird."

"Weirder than her dating you in storyline? Or her dating EC3 as part of the storyline for a while?"

"Okay, okay. I get your point. There have been weirder things to happen in this family," I said laughing.

We stayed silent for a little while before I got up from under Amy because I heard Ruby stir. When I came back, I found Amy going through a photo album she'd made of Taylor since she'd come home to Cameron. My heart melted as I remembered all of our ups and downs. Going in front of her I got down on one knee.

"Amy, I have a question for you."

She just looked at me, stunned.

"Will you marry me?" I asked her as I pulled the engagement ring I'd bought her out of my pocket.

Her shock overtook her for a minute because for once, Amy had no words. She shook her head yes. I slid the ring on her finger. I got up and kissed her.

"I love you, Jeffrey Hardy."

"I love you too, Amy Dumas."

**Taylor's POV**

Nick and I had a good time at the prom. We danced, hung out with Collin and a few of the other seniors there, took pictures, ate, and just relaxed. I was about to ask him if we could leave when they were about to announce the prom royalty. He said he wanted to stay to see if the fake cheerleader got it. I reluctantly agreed since he'd been such a good sport about all the other craziness.

I wasn't really paying attention until they actually started announcing the winners. Collin won prom king. That didn't surprise me, he'd been homecoming king too. When they announced the prom queen, I didn't register it.

"Taylor, it's you," Nick said to me.

I looked up on the stage and saw Addison glaring at me. That was when I knew it wasn't a joke. The senior class had just voted me prom queen. I got up and made my way to the stage, where they gave me the crown and flowers. Nick came up to the stage to take the flowers from me before going back to our table. Collin and I were told we had to have a dance together as the prom king and queen.

"How did this happen?" I asked him while we were dancing to the slow song.

"Honestly, I heard people talking around here after your blowup with Addison. I think that's why so many voted you as a write-in for prom queen. They like that you had the guts to do what pretty much nobody else in this town has done in her entire life, point out she's an asshole."

I started laughing.

"I'm probably leaving prom after this."

"Probably better. I'm sure Addison is gonna blow a fuse soon. She's been talking about being prom queen since she could talk."

"I don't care about her. This just isn't really my thing. Dad and Amy wanted me to come, you wanted me to come, so I decided to give it a try."

"Well, at least you can say you went to your senior prom," he said to me. "Have you decided about college yet?"

"I got into some of the top schools in the country. And I deferred Stanford for a year. I'm gonna focus on TNA for a year. I'm not sure I want to go to college right now. A wrestling career is something I can't do forever, but I can always go to college later. Dad said we can talk about it again in a few months."

The song ended and Nick came over to us.

"I got all of that on tape, including cheerleader Sue blowing a fuse on stage!"

"Can you get me a copy of that?" Collin asked.

"I'll get it to Taylor for you, man."

"Nick, can we go now?"

"Come on. I know a club we can go to," he said leading me to the table to get my things.

**Jeff's POV**

When Taylor found out about my proposal to Amy she was ecstatic and yelled at me for taking so long. I couldn't help at laugh at her reaction. I was also very relieved she wasn't mad that I had done it without talking to her.

A few weeks passed after the prom. Taylor finished her finals even with her still traveling with the company. She was traveling a little less since she was about to graduate, but she was still traveling.

The morning of Taylor's graduation came. Dad, Matt, Reby, Amy, and Ruby were waiting with me in the living room while Taylor got ready. It just so happened that her hair was blue, which was one of the school colors, but it was because TNA Creative had asked her to dye it blue the week before.

Taylor came downstairs, looking pale, wearing a white dress. She was holding her cap and gown on a hanger. Her long blue hair was loose around her shoulders.

"What's wrong, Darlin'?" I asked her.

"I feel like I'm gonna throw up," she replied.

"What's got you so nervous?" Amy asked. "You should be proud to be the top of your class."

Taylor explained what happened at the prom and why she really didn't want to have to get up in front of the senior class. This was another of those moments I didn't know whether to be proud or disappointed. Part of me was really proud of her for telling off that cheerleader who'd been a pain in her ass since the first day I'd dropped her at the school.

"Good for you!" Dad exclaimed when she finished explaining. "She had that coming!"

Taylor went over and hugged Dad.

"Never let anyone give you bullshit. You're a Hardy. We don't stand for that," he said to her.

When Dad let Taylor go, Ruby went over to her. Taylor scooped her up and snuggled her. Ruby started giggling as Taylor tickled her. When she stopped, Ruby gave Taylor a hug and a kiss. Taylor put her down.

We took some family pictures, with Reby getting shots of me, Taylor, Ruby, and Amy together. Then there were the shots with Dad, me, Matt, Ruby, and Taylor. We got some shots of just me and Taylor, Amy and Taylor, me and Amy with Taylor. Then we took some shots with Matt and Taylor, Dad and Taylor, and Matt, Taylor and Reby. Finally, Matt took shots of Amy, Taylor, Ruby, and Reby.

"Are you sure you're okay heading over to the school on your own?" I asked her.

"Yeah, Dad. You guys don't need to be there for a few hours. Plus, because of everything you guys have done for the school, they reserved seats for you so even if you guys showed up minutes before the ceremony started your seats are there."

"But you're driving on your own," Matt pointed out.

Taylor hadn't driven much on her own. She'd gotten her license and we knew she could do it, but we also knew sometimes she was uncomfortable doing it.

"Actually, I'm going to pick up Collin to drag him in early. He can sit and listen as they force me to rehearse my speech."

"Alright, but call me when you get to the school?" I said to her.

"No problem," she said as she hugged me.

Taylor gave everyone hugs and left. She hadn't eaten breakfast, but with how nervous she was none of us were going to push it.

**Taylor's POV**

The ceremony was dragging. I wanted to get the hell out of there and not have to go back. Arrangements had already been made to mail my diploma to Dad's house because we were leaving Cameron a few days after graduation and wouldn't be back for a few weeks. I had listened to other speeches and now they were about to call me up for my speech. When they did, I got up and walked to the podium from my seat on the stage.

"I want to thank the principal, teachers, and faculty at Union Pines for getting the senior class to this day. I would like to thank all the families, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, grandfathers, grandmothers, siblings, and those who are as good as blood who helped us to get here. You are the ones who helped all of us when we were at our worst and encouraged us when we were at our best.

"It is a real honor for me to be the class valedictorian, one I never expected. I've only been at Union Pines for a year and a half, having lived in San Antonio, Texas my entire life before that. Some of my classmates have truly been amazing and I will miss you when we all go our separate ways. In the short time I was here, I learned so much about small time life. I learned that you take care of your own and it has helped me to be able to be here today.

"Everyone has their theories on why I wound up here in the first place. My mother, Tamara Adams, a graduate of Union Pines herself died a year and a half ago in a car accident with me in the car. It was one of the hardest times in my life. I lost the only family I had left, until a man from a small town came to the hospital to bring me back home with him. It was a rough transition, but when I was cleared to leave the hospital, once the doctors were sure I healed enough from my injuries, I was released and after we buried my Mama, my father Jeff Hardy and I came back to Cameron.

"Starting at Union Pines, I tried to be invisible, but that lasted all of two seconds. On my first day here, my Uncle Matt came into the school to help me with my books and my secret was out. Still, I made some really good friends when I wasn't trying to. People here have been here through some of those really hard times and I can never thank them enough.

"Regardless, in the last year and a half, I have had ups and downs like any teenager would, both with my family as I got to know them and with the student body as I learned to fit into small town life. Things weren't perfect, but nothing ever is. Whether the senior class is all friends now or not doesn't matter. Regardless of how long we've been together, since elementary school, junior high school, or even sometime in the last four years, we've had experiences together that nobody can ever change or take away.

"So now, as we graduate, those of you who have been classmates for most of your lives especially are facing the biggest transition of your lives. No longer are you children being forced to school. Now you have choices. Many have chosen to go away to college. Some have chosen to put college off and get jobs. But now is the time where everything matters. We need to live our lives as if every day is our last. Throw caution to the wind. Don't be afraid of things. Believe me, you never know when your last day will come and you don't want any regrets.

"So to my fellow seniors, as we go away for school, to travel, to start jobs and careers, remember that your roots are here. If you need somewhere to focus you, Cameron is where you should come. Home is not only a place but it is the people and we are each other's home. Congratulations, Seniors!"

After the ceremony, I was shaking. I said good-bye to my friends because I wouldn't get to see them before they left for college with my travel schedule over the next few months. Then I followed my family home for the graduation party we were having with mine and Dad's co-workers.

**Jeff's POV**

A week after Taylor's graduation we were in Lincoln, Nebraska filming for TNA. Everything was going great. Christy was returning from maternity leave. She was anxious to be back on the road with us. Taylor had no problem backing away from the announcing because Dixie had other ideas for her, which she wasn't telling me about.

I was in the ring, talking to Bram, who my character had recently started feuding with again. All of a sudden, Havok, the current Knockouts Champion, came out. She looked at Bram. Something passed between them and she attacked me. Suddenly the crowd went wild.

Havok got knocked off of me. She started fighting with the person who knocked her off of me, but the girl had speed on her. When Havok was the victim of a Twist of Fate, I realized it was Taylor. With Havok laid out on the mat, Taylor went up the ropes for a Swanton. Bram went to knock her off the ropes. I got up and laid him out on the other side and went up the ropes. Taylor and I looked at each other and simultaneously Swantoned Bram and Havok.

We got up and stood together in the middle of the ring. My arm was around her shoulders. I was so proud of her. Bram and Havok, both pissed off and talking about revenge, rolled out of the ring and left together.

"KISS HER!"

"GET BACK TOGETHER!"

"YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE BROKEN UP!"

The crowd was chanting at us. They were going even more nuts for us than when Taylor first came down the ramp. Taylor went to the side of the ring and grabbed a mic from JB. I had no idea what she was going to say.

**Taylor's POV**

I was still trying to catch my breath when I returned to the center of the ring. I took a deep breath before bringing the mic up. Dad went and got a mic of his own, not sure what he should be doing.

"So, Jeff, it felt really good to do that, together, now didn't it?"

"Yeah, Darlin', it really did."

"Now we have something that we really should be telling the fans, now shouldn't we?"

Dad looked at me confused for a minute. Then he realized what he meant and looked at me with a question in his eyes. I nodded at him.

"You mean the truth about our relationship?"

"That would be what I'm talking about," I said to him before turning to the crowd. "Do you guys want to hear about that? The truth we've been hiding from you guys for almost a year?"

The fans went nuts.

"Well, Taylor and I do have a complicated relationship, especially when she first started here last year," Dad said.

"And there is a reason I've always been protective of Jeff here," I continued.

"YEAH! YOU LOVE EACH OTHER!" a fan shouted.

"I do love Taylor with all my heart," Dad said.

"And I love Jeff with all my heart," I said and the fans went nuts. "BUT… it's not what all of you think."

"WHAT?!" the fans shouted.

"There is a good reason Taylor and I would do anything for each other," Dad said.

My name flashed on the screens in the arena. Suddenly, Taylor Adams was changed to Taylor Hardy. The fans erupted.

"Jeffrey Nero Hardy is my FATHER! All those kisses on the cheek, the hugs, it was nothing more than love between father and daughter!"

"We kept Taylor's identity a secret so she could finish school in peace. Now that she's graduated, we've decided to tell you the truth," Dad said.

Kurt Angle's music started and he came onto the stage.

"That's a good move, Jeff, telling the truth about Taylor. Because you will be in Taylor's corner tonight, during her debut match against Havok!"

"You can't put her against Havok, Kurt!"

"It's done. As the Knockouts Champion she demanded a match against the announcer who attacked her. Don't worry, Jeff, it's an intergender tag match. Bram will be involved as well. Let's see how well this father/daughter team work together," Kurt said as he walked off the stage.

**Jeff's POV**

We walked out of the ring together and went straight to the dressing room.

"Did you know they were going to do this?" I asked Taylor.

"Yeah. Dixie talked to me about it while you were getting ready tonight. She's been talking to Al, Mark, Devon, Jamie, Lauren, Gail, Michael, and everyone else who's been training me. They all told her that I was ready for this. Since you had already agreed to let me wrestle after I graduated high school if the people who trained me said I was ready she didn't think it was a problem."

"Taylor, Havok is brutal," I said to her.

"Dad, don't worry about me so much. You've seen some of the stuff I've come back from. I don't think Havok will be able to do as much damage as the car accident did. I'll be fine."

I pulled her into a tight hug.

"Are you sure, Tay?"

"I'm sure, Dad. I'm actually kinda excited about this. Telling the fans they're stupid for thinking we're dating without saying it and now a chance to prove I can do more than talk while wearing those prissy dresses? I'm more than ready."

I sat her down.

"What are you wearing?"

"Well they wanted to dress me a little like the other Knockouts. I said no. So I'm gonna be dressing like you, kinda. They're letting me get away with leggings with one of your spandex shirts. I'm gonna be covered up. They agreed to it for now, but I have to meet with the design team after these shows to come up with my own look. I will definitely not be strutting around in short shorts and a glorified bra."

I hugged her again, proud of her for refusing to be objectified. I started brushing her hair out. One of the stage hands came to the door.

"Jeff, they need Taylor in hair and makeup."

"I'm doing her hair. We're good."

"Yes, Sir. I'll let them know."

"What are you gonna do with my hair because I don't want it loose."

"I'm braiding it."

"Do we have enough time?"

"You do now," Amy said entering the room. "He'll do half your head while I get the other side. I'm proud of you for the way you handled that out there, Taylor. I think you'll do even better when you get in the ring tonight."

"Thanks, Amy."

"Jeff, don't worry about her so much. She's been trained by so many people around here I think she can pull just about any trick out of her bag and nobody would expect it. More than likely all anyone is gonna expect is gonna be stuff you and Matt can do. Don't forget The Wolves, The Dudleys, Ken, EC3, Gail, The Beautiful People, Madison Rayne, Al Snow, and so many others have helped to train her. She's ready."

"I know, but she's still only 16."

"I'm okay, Dad. Really," Taylor said as we continued to braid her hair.

It took about half an hour to braid her hair. She ran to get her makeup touched up and came back with the ring attire they were letting her use for now. By the time she got back I was ready to go. She got dressed and sat down with me and Amy.

"So just give me the rundown on the rules of this match," Taylor said.

"Well, in this promotion an intergender tag match means that unless you tag me in, if Havok tags in Bram, you have to fight him. Other than that, it's the same rules as any singles matches."

"What do you mean in this promotion?" Taylor asked.

"What your dad means is, nowadays, in the WWE if there is an intergender tag match if the guy tags in his female partner, the other guy automatically has to tag in his partner. Same thing if the girl takes in their male partner. They're not allowed to fight each other. When I was wrestling they allowed it, but now anymore. The girls now are more about their looks then wrestling," Amy said.

Taylor was quiet for a minute.

"You okay, Darlin'?"

"Yeah. Just thinking about all of this. I'm good though," she said.

A stage hand came to the door and told us it was time to go.

**Taylor's POV**

Dad and I entered to his song "Time and Fate." We got a huge pop from the fans. When we both got into the ring we went up onto the ropes. I flipped off of them and the crowd got even louder.

Bram and Havok entered next. They got massive heat from the fans. When they reached the edge of the ring, Havok took off her gas mask and dropped that and the title belt to the ground. They both slid in and came right for me and Dad.

Havok came right for me and shoved me into the turnbuckle. It knocked the breath out of me. She grinned at me as she got ready to hit me.

"Welcome to the big leagues, little girl," she said to me.

"Bite me, freak," I said as I slid beneath her and came up behind her.

I kicked her in her lower back and it made her fall to her knees. The bell rang and I looked around. Dad and Bram were outside the ring. Havok and I were the legal men in the match. In the second I turned around, Havok got back to her feet. She shoved me across the ring. I hit the ring and came back at her with a cross body, which knocked her off her feet again. I ran up the ropes and did a 450 splash onto her before covering her. She kicked out at two.

Havok grabbed me by my hair to keep me from getting away from her. She lifted me over her head and went to the ropes by where the steel steps where. Throwing me down, she expected me to slam down and get hurt. I twisted mid-air so I landed on my feet and the fans gave me a huge pop. When she came over to the ropes I kicked her in her head. Propelling myself over her, I turned her around and hit her with the Twist of Fate.

As I was about to cover her again, Bram came and kicked me in the back, getting major heat from the fans. He held me up while Havok beat on me. It took me a minute but I finally got out of his grip, putting both arms straight up and sliding into a split. When Havok, who had already started swinging at me, made contact, she knocked Bram to his knees instead.

I kicked Havok in her knees, taking them out from underneath her. I hit her with Whisper in the Wind and covered her again. She kicked out at two. I saw Dad was back on the apron and tagged him in. He jumped onto the ropes and Swantoned Havok and covered her. She wouldn't have kicked out, but Bram got up and kicked Dad in the side of the head.

Tired as I was, I jumped back in and tapped Bram on the shoulder. When he turned around, I was already on the ropes and I hit him with a Moonsault. I went back to the apron. Dad tagged me back in. We both went up on the ropes. And just like earlier, we both Swantoned simultaneously. I covered Havok. She didn't kick out in time.

Bram started going nuts. He leveled Dad and came at me. I hit him with a Hurricanrana. He got back up. I hit him with a Superkick like the Young Bucks had taught me and he took longer to get up. I saw Havok was starting to get up. I helped Dad from the ring and Earl Hebner raised our hands in victory as we made our way up the ramp and they threw their fit in the ring. We left the stage to a huge pop from the fans.


End file.
